Shades of Darkness
by MissJayne
Summary: The past is back to haunt Jennifer Shepard, and it isn't going to be pretty. A dangerous secret is finally revealed, leading to a deadly game. Some Jibbs. Lily!
1. Prologue

_Thanks to my beta Kristen!_

_A/N: I know I am being more evil than usual, but this storyline appealed to me. Please trust me and don't give up after this chapter! I am very fond of my twists and turns... and this might have a few more than normaly. And I promise that Jenny's secret will be dealt with._

_For my Nan, who gets copies of all my stories through the mail because she doesn't have a computer._

Shades of Darkness

Chapter 1: Prologue

Leroy Jethro Gibbs watched as the redhead entered the ballroom. Her dark blue dress swirled around her feet, a stunningly beautiful diamond necklace rested lightly on her sternum, and her hair hung loose, with a few natural kinks in it.

She was attending a charity ball, to which a large number of media goons had been invited. Gibbs was not sure how many there were, but he was extremely glad the photographers at least were outside. Being accosted for an interview every few steps was aggravating enough.

He and his team had been dragged in to protect the Director. Personally, he did not think she needed protecting. It was not because of the agents present from other agencies, nor because of the sheer improbability of someone smuggling a weapon in here, nor because he felt she could take care of herself.

It was because the Director of NCIS was at home with her children.

Lily, her big bad CIA sister, had taken over for the night, having showed up at the Navy Yard earlier in the afternoon and claiming Jenny needed the evening off. For her part, Jenny had not argued. Whatever secret she was hiding had been draining her for weeks and it was clear she needed time to relax. Lily could cover for her anyway.

Lily was also perfectly capable of dealing with anyone who came after her. She did not need his team standing guard, even though they did not realize which way round the sisters were. No one ever did.

He knew for certain that he could not simply disappear and leave her to her own devices. She had a nasty habit of tormenting him, and she would use any material he gave her. And she also had a nasty habit of causing a great deal of trouble.

Her current 'game' involved bombs and toilets. It seemed that she had spent the previous weekend rigging half the toilets in the Navy Yard to explode at strange intervals. The toilets had been chosen at random, causing interesting side effects. No one dared to use the bathrooms any more, not after several toilets had exploded while agents were sitting on them. People had resorted to leaving the Yard every few hours to use the facilities elsewhere. Gibbs had found himself making extra trips to his favorite coffee shop.

It could only be Lily. Although she had not owned up to it, she walked in every day with a huge grin on her face. That, and no one else would blow up toilets. Jenny had bought EOD in to locate the bombs, but Lily had been smart and hidden them well. Gibbs had suggested torturing Lily until she cracked, but Jenny had vetoed it.

Via Cynthia.

They still were not talking. Cynthia was being used to pass messages, as was Lily when she was around. His team were carefully staying out of the way.

He could not understand why she was not talking to him. He hoped she opened up before it was too late.

Lily appeared at his side with two glasses of bourbon. He gratefully took one.

"They're going to start rumors about us if you aren't careful," he hissed.

She shrugged her shoulder slightly. "Let them. Half the stuff they print nowadays is rubbish anyway. And I can always swear on my own life that I'm not sleeping with you." She took a sip of her drink.

"Jenny won't be happy."

She grinned. "I might have forgotten to mention that I know a few of the higher-ups in the media world. I can have any story I like completely discredited in less than an hour."

He wasn't surprised. Lily was able to do a lot of things. "How much longer are you hanging around for?"

She tugged at his arm and looked at his watch. "I'm leaving in five minutes. Tell the driver to bring the car round the front."

* * *

Tony DiNozzo glanced around at the media scrum in front of the door. The Director's car was due to arrive any minute, and then Gibbs would escort her out the door and to her car. She would be very safe.

How could anyone live their life with the media liable to poke their noses in at any and every moment? They were like vultures, circling overhead, waiting for trouble to strike. Sometimes causing the trouble themselves.

A black Lincoln Town car pulled up by the curb. Tony recognized it as the same car the Director had arrived in. He could just about make out the shape of the driver and the front passenger through the windshield.

Time to get this show on the road.

He spoke into the radio concealed at his wrist. "Car's here, boss."

"Roger that, DiNozzo," came the reply. "Bringing her out now."

The photographers had used their one collective brain cell to figure out that someone was about to leave. They swarmed in front of the door just as the Director emerged.

Tony resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. He had seen the redhead when she had entered, but she looked so… _hot_. The diamonds draped around her neck had to be worth a lot of money. He vaguely wondered where she had managed to get hold of them.

Gibbs stood in front of her, and pushed his way through the crowd, allowing the Director to follow him easily. She smiled at the cameras, looking completely unflustered.

Finally, they reached the car. Tony opened the back door for her and she smiled gratefully at him. He deliberately refrained from watching her butt as she entered the car, aware that Gibbs would kill him if he caught his senior field agent peeking.

He closed the door behind her, leaving him and Gibbs and the media dirtbags standing on the sidewalk. The driver gently accelerated away, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief.

No attempts on the Director's life. No problems.

He caught a glimpse of the car rounding a corner up ahead. Everything was over. He could go back to his apartment and crawl into bed. Life was good.

BOOM

He did not have to glance at Gibbs to know what had just happened. The car! They raced for the corner, the media pack slightly behind them. Tony and Gibbs rounded the corner a full second before everyone else.

For a few moments, the entire car was lit up by the flashbulbs of cameras.

The car had been almost destroyed. Fire engulfed the wreckage, and Tony instantly knew there would be no survivors. It was impossible to survive something like this.

His heart skipped a beat. "Boss?" he whispered. "Jenny or Lily?" Gibbs would understand without alerting the rest of the media.

"Lily."


	2. Death and the Maiden

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! I know this chapter is a bit depressing, but it needs to be dealt with. Next stop: Gibbs has to tell Jenny!_

Chapter 2: Death and the Maiden

Ziva David sat at her desk, her head in her hands. Lily was dead. Definitely, irrefutably dead.

After the initial shock, Gibbs had taken control of the scene and set up a cordon. The media were held back and the fire trucks had arrived. It had taken half an hour to put out the flames.

Four charred bodies were left in the car. The driver, two bodyguards – one in the front seat and one in the back – and Lily. Gibbs had made a tentative identification of Lily from the diamond necklace on the floor of the car. Ducky had received the bodies at a very late hour, and had promised to provide definitive identification as soon as possible.

Ziva guessed it would be at least a day. Checking the blood group and teeth did not take long, but a DNA test would make everything certain.

As far as she and the rest of the team were concerned, it was Lily. There was not a shadow of a doubt. Lily had got into the car under the eyes of the media, and had died in the same car.

It was difficult to think of her as dead. She had had such a large presence. She had believed that the end justified the means, and she had followed that rule religiously. She had played such wonderful mind games with complete dedication. She had been a superb agent, and no one would come close to her.

* * *

Timothy McGee leant back in his chair and took in the squad room.

It was 0300 and they were the only team present. Gibbs had escorted Lily's body into Autopsy before leaving to inform Jenny. He wanted to tell her himself, in person, and he was sure she would not have the television on. She had not called yet, so it was a safe bet she didn't know.

McGee did not want to be around when she found out. He wasn't sure whether she would be spitting mad or incredibly upset. He didn't want to find out soon either.

How had no one noticed the bomb? It must have been strapped underneath the vehicle, but the car should have been checked. Someone somewhere had slipped up, but McGee did not pity the idiot who would feel Gibbs' wrath over it. Lily had survived a lot, and to be felled by a car bomb?

His thoughts drifted to her young son, Jasper. The eight year old would not know about it yet. Someone would have to explain to the innocent boy that he would never see his mother again. There was not even the comfort of knowing that she had died to save lives, to protect others, or for her country. The boy was now an orphan; his father had died before he was born.

Her fiancé, Alex, would also need to be told. Hopefully, he would be more stoic about it. He too lived his life on the edge every day: first as an arms dealer, then as a CIA informant, and now as a CIA agent. He had walked into their relationship with his eyes wide open. Someone had been making regular attempts on her life then, and she could have died any day.

But she didn't. She had a knack of surviving. There was no chance she had survived this though. No chance. Her dead, charred body was currently in Autopsy, being taken care of by Ducky.

He wondered if he should go down and visit her. It had been hard seeing Kate, but it had ultimately been worth it. Would Lily have minded him visiting? He thought she might appreciate the gesture and decided to go down later. Ducky needed the space right now.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo held back his grief. Lily was gone. Gone forever.

He had cared for her. Not loved her or been in love with her, but cared for her. She had been smart, witty and intelligent, with a dirty mind and a great sense of humor. She had been a curious mixture of emotions: intrigued by something one minute, missing her son another, causing mayhem the next.

He had wanted to protect her, strange as it seemed. While she had often appeared to be a terrifying force to reckon with, she had had a softer side. He had seen it sometimes when she had spent time with her son or with Jenny. Most of the time, she had buried it deep. He loved the glimmer that had appeared in her eyes on those rare occasions though.

He truly missed her already. He missed her flirtatious smiles, her constant annoying the boss, her immediate reaction to protect her sister no matter what, her odd mind…

She had been slightly deranged, of that there was no doubt. She had blown herself up, faked her sister's death incredibly well, and tied him to a bed.

He was not proud of the last bit, and knew she hadn't been either. She had actually apologized, although it had been after the event. Still, she had not told anyone about it, nor had she taken any photographs. She had confessed she had been seriously tempted to, but that didn't matter to him. She had not gone through with it.

He wanted to see her again. He wanted to warn her away from the car. He even wished it really had been Jenny in the explosion because he could have coped better with the loss.

He rubbed his hands over his face. She was gone, and there was no way for her to come back.

* * *

Abby Scuito pressed 'play' on her CD player, allowing the dirge to fill the room.

She had been woken up an hour ago by a phone call from McGee, warning her to sit down before he continued. She had been bouncing around the room, excited at the thought of more evidence for her to handle, but had done as he had requested.

She was glad she had done. She would have fallen over in shock if she hadn't been perched on her bed.

Lily dead?

Part of her hoped this was a bad dream. Another part accepted it. A third part insisted on getting a DNA match before anything else.

The ruined car was being transported to the evidence garage, so she decided to go through the pictures first. She loaded them onto her computer and had a look. Most of them showed flames flaring high into the night sky. Some were close-ups of charred bodies: four people in a car. Some were of the media themselves, in case whoever had done this had hung around to watch the reaction.

Abby doubted he had. The bomber was almost certainly out of the country by now.

She wondered who the bomb had been intended for. Everyone assumed Jenny was the dead one, but few people knew about Lily. Most of those wanted to kill her in various painful ways though. Had it been aimed at Jenny or Lily? Did the bomber know which one they had killed?

The Goth realized her hands were shaking and decided to head down to the evidence garage. There was little she could do here. Her only other option was Autopsy, but she didn't feel up to seeing Lily just yet. She supposed she could go to the squad room, although she knew she needed to keep working at the moment. She needed to take her mind off it.

Lily was dead.

* * *

Ducky stared at the four bodies laid out on four tables. Each one was as charred as the last.

He cleared his mind for a moment, becoming the true professional he was. As long as he could distance himself from this, everything would be okay.

Three males, one female. That wasn't hard to tell. They had all died instantly from the shockwave; the fire had only burnt their lifeless forms. In all likelihood, they had not felt a thing. One minute they had turned a corner, the next they were gone.

Ducky sighed softly. He knew he should have called Mr. Palmer to help him out, but he did not want to wake the young lad. He would autopsy Lily himself, without any assistance. She deserved whatever he could do for her now.

He recalled her in Autopsy a fortnight ago. It didn't feel like a fortnight, more like a lifetime. He had been autopsying a young man by the name of Dexter Boxall. Lily had insisted on staying throughout the whole procedure, turning a very interesting shade of green. He knew she had never liked autopsies, but she was willing to sit through one if she had to.

She had been dedicated to her job. She had done whatever was necessary, destroying parts of her in the bargain. She had murdered her father, and he had watched her struggle to come to terms with it.

She still needed his help, although not to recover from that. This was something that was impossible to recover from. This would damage other lives.

He sighed again. He need to block out thoughts of her so he could do this. He only had a small window before the CIA figured it out and demanded the body back. Both sisters would have wanted him to do the autopsy, and he needed to get it over with before he was stopped.

He gazed upon her burnt face. "Take care, my dear," he whispered.


	3. Breaking the News

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Sorry for the slightly late update - was on the phone with my Nan, having a good old gossip!_

_A/N: If you leave me a signed review, I promise to reply. Really. I always have. I can't reply to queries in anonymous reviews though..._

Chapter 3: Breaking the News

Gibbs stood outside the apartment door, frozen in place. He could not make his hand reach up to knock, knowing that the news he would have to impart would break the heart of the woman he loved.

Lily was dead.

It was an almost unbelievable thought.

She had been one of the most infuriating people he had ever encountered. Usually it only took one meeting for people to be scared of him, but Lily had never been cowed. He seriously doubted that she had ever been cowed by anyone. She had had a knack for getting under your skin, infuriating people with minimal effort. She had remained amazingly calm, most of the time. The only moments he had ever seen her crack were when she was worrying about Jenny or after she had killed her father.

She had also been ever so slightly deranged. Her mind did not seem to work in a linear fashion, although she had usually been able to convey her thoughts, even if they had not always made sense. She had always placed her job and her country above everything else, risking life and limb. And now her life had ended…

He knew for a fact that she had written a will; he had been one of the witnesses. She had not let him read the contents of it, choosing to joke that he would kill her for the money if he knew how much she had. He certainly would not have killed her for money…

But he would have done so for a lot of other things. Lying, keeping secrets, being a pain in the butt. After a particularly hellish day with her, he had sat down in his basement and written a list of exactly what he was prepared to do to her for every transgression.

She had always expected death, although she had not welcomed it. Like most federal agents, she had been acutely aware that she had been placing herself in danger every single day. However, she had not normally tried to keep herself out of trouble; she had embraced it with both hands. Being a relatively organized person, she had drawn up her will as a form of insurance. It was one less thing she had to worry about.

He missed her already. He half-expected her to wander into the squad room and act as though nothing had happened. Another part of him expected her to open the door he was currently standing outside.

He continued to stare at the door. How was he supposed to do this? In theory, he wanted to tell Jenny what had happened himself. He wanted to be there for her when it sunk in. The sisters had been extremely close and had shared everything. With Lily gone… he dreaded to think of Jenny's reaction.

This was not going to go well.

She could accept it immediately or refuse to believe. She might break down in front of him, which would require his help. Alternately, she could throw him out and try to deal with the news alone. He had no intentions of being anywhere else though.

Squaring his shoulders, Gibbs knocked on the door.

* * *

Jenny forced herself to open her eyes at the insistent knocking. She glanced at the illuminated clock by the side of her head. 3.30? In the morning? What was so urgent?

A sudden panic gripped her and she snatched up her cell phone. There were no missed calls. So it wasn't something work-related…

She rolled her eyes as the knocking continued. If this carried on, it would wake the twins. She tumbled out of bed, still half-asleep, and padded through Lily's apartment. It was dimly lit and she stumbled over something. Reaching down, she discovered a pair of heels that Lily had decided didn't quite match her dress before she had left. A smile crossed her face.

"I'm coming," she called in the direction of the knocking. "Hold on."

She silently reached under the couch cushions for the gun Lily always stored there. When she was armed, she continued over to the door and peered through the peephole.

Of all the things she was expecting, her list did not include a very nervous-looking Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

She sighed softly. Evidently, he wanted to try to talk her into revealing her secret. What other reason would he have for rousing her at this awful time in the morning when Lily wasn't present?

"Go away, Agent Gibbs," she ordered.

His only response was to knock again.

"I mean it," she warned.

Another knock greeted her ears.

"I'll call the police."

"On what grounds?" His voice was muffled through the door. "I need to talk to my Director."

Resisting the urge to shoot him through the door, she unlocked it and pulled it open. However, she did not let him in, choosing to stand in his path instead. "Speak."

He shuffled from foot to foot. "I'd prefer to do this inside," he muttered.

She stared at him for a moment. He looked as though he had aged at least ten years in the space of a few hours. He looked… tired. She wanted to engulf him in a hug à la Abby, but decided it was too dangerous. Making sure he could see the gun, she stood to one side. "In."

He obeyed after a brief hesitation. She couldn't work out what was wrong. Normally he was happy to spend time with her and the twins. What had changed?

"Lil's not in, if that's what you're worried about," she told him, heading into the kitchen to make some coffee. Caffeine would definitely be needed to get through this.

"Don't bother," he called after her.

Puzzled, she returned to the living room to find him standing by the couch. He had picked up an unopened bottle of bourbon from the side and was holding it out to her. She grabbed two glasses from the kitchen and deposited the gun on the counter before returning to his side.

"Sit," she ordered.

Again, he obeyed. He poured one small drink and one larger one, surprising her by taking the small one for himself. He drank the amber liquid in one, and waved away her offer of another drink.

"You wake me up for a good reason?" she tried.

"Damn good," he whispered, so quiet she barely heard it.

"If you want to see the twins, I'm not going to stop you."

He stayed silent.

"I'll ask Lil to give you a key so you don't have to wake me next time."

"You won't," he whispered. Again, she only just caught his words.

"Why won't I?"

She turned to face him as he turned to face her. She jumped as he took one of her hands in his own, and placed the other on her knee.

"I'm sorry Jen," he commented. "I'm really sorry."

Fear rose in her chest. "Don't apologize," she managed to tell him. "Tell me what happened."

He looked straight into her eyes as he told her the terrible truth.

"Lily's dead."

* * *

For a moment, Jenny felt nothing.

"No," she muttered.

"I saw it happen," he murmured, his voice as low as hers. "She's dead."

She shook her head softly. Sheer terror was starting to rise. A world without Lily? Without her sister? The one who knew everything about her, and vice versa? How could she go on? She had always had the impression that they would go out together, on some spectacular mission. They would die side by side, not leaving one behind to struggle onwards.

"No." Her voice was a little louder this time.

"It was a car bomb," he whispered. "I don't know who mucked up but I will crucify them."

She began to shake. Bringing the glass to her lips, she drank the amber liquid, briefly grateful that he had thought to give her something. This was all a horrible nightmare. Any minute now, Lily was going to shake her awake and comfort her.

"No." Her voice was a lot louder now. He tightened his grip on her.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" She found herself screaming her denial, throwing the empty glass against the wall in her despair. The resounding smash tore at her heartstrings.

She rose from the couch, pacing up and down. "You're lying to me. I'd know if she was dead!" she shouted. "She's my sister, my _twin_! We know these things! I know if she scrapes her knee, or gets shot, or gets drunk! You must have seen something incorrectly. She's in a hospital somewhere, or she's run off to Paris. She likes to go on her instincts sometimes. That's it, she's heard of a new pair of shoes she'd like and she's got on a plane."

She turned to look at him, suddenly aware of the tears running down her face.

"Tell me she's okay," she whispered.

He pulled her to him, cradling her in a comforting hug. "I'm sorry," he muttered in her ear. "Lily's dead. And there's no chance of getting her back."

The dam broke, and she sobbed uncontrollably in his arms.


	4. The Funeral

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! _

_Wonderful news! The next 3 chapters are all called 'Answers'! So, after this one, you will find out Jenny's secret (at last), as well as some Lily answers._

Chapter 4: The Funeral

Three days later, Timothy McGee found himself standing by Lily's coffin. Per her will, it was a very simple wooden box. He guessed this was because she had not seen the need to be buried in something hugely expensive which no one would see after today.

She had ordered that the ceremony was to be conducted outside, whatever the weather. McGee was thought it was ironic that the sun was shining down on them. Surely it should be raining, with apocalyptic thunderstorms tearing the sky apart. Powerful winds should be ripping up trees and making it impossible for anyone to stand.

She had chosen a nice place to be buried though. It was a private cemetery; small, but perfectly laid out. A few trees were dotted around; the odd flowerbed broke the rows of white headstones. Candles, flowers, and other assorted trinkets were scattered on various graves, showing the frequency of visitors to this place of mourning.

McGee glanced around at the gathering of people. Some of them he knew. Tony and Ziva stood together, heads bowed and lost in thought. Ducky stood on the other side of them, attempting to comfort Abby. The Goth was crying silently, caught up in the grief which everyone else felt more acutely. The Director and Gibbs were standing very close. Gibbs had placed a hand on her shoulder, while the Director seemed in shock. McGee wasn't surprised; she had just lost her twin sister.

The two baby twins were in the care of Great Aunt April. The elderly lady was busy playing with them, jangling her car keys in front of their faces and chuckling when they reached for the shiny objects together. She was the only one who appeared nonplussed by the whole situation.

Alex, Lily's fiancé, stood towards the head of the coffin. He was wearing sunglasses, ensuring that his eyes were not visible. Jasper was holding Alex's hand. The young boy was clearly upset by the whole state of affairs and was struggling not to show it. As McGee watched, Alex ruffled Jasper's hair in a soothing manner.

McGee also recognized Arbourne, Lily's boss. For once, he did not look as though he was about to explode in anger at someone. He was subdued, although he did seem a tad pissed off. McGee presumed this was because he had not killed Lily himself.

There were also a great many people present whom he did not recognize. He suspected most of them were CIA. They were all dressed in near-identical black suits, waiting in complete silence for the ceremony to begin.

Charlie, Lily's CIA partner, finally stepped forward. "Afternoon, everyone," he called, his voice quiet but powerful. "I won't go so far as to call it a good afternoon, for obvious reasons."

* * *

Charlie was not sure how he had ended up conducting Lily's funeral. In her will, she had left a list of people she wished to do the job, all arranged to show who she would most prefer, and who she did not under any circumstances want anywhere near the funeral.

Both lists had been surprisingly long.

There had been other surprises in her will. She had firmly stipulated that her estate was to be left untouched for a year and a day after she had been declared dead, on the off chance that she went MIA and came back to find everything gone. She had also left everything to her sister, with nothing going to her son or fiancé. Instead, she had given the account numbers of a few trust funds for Jasper and Alex to have access to. Arbourne had managed to persuade someone to give him a handful of details, discovering that she had left a more than adequate amount for her family.

Another shock was the inclusion of Agent Gibbs' name directly below his own on the top of the list of people to do the eulogy. It had been the only reason Charlie had not declined the duty. Lily had presumably only put her plaything on the list to annoy him, and Charlie wanted the funeral to go as smoothly as possible.

In fact, he had triple checked the coffin for explosives only that morning. Lily had always found it amusing to blow things up, especially coffins, and he had a funny feeling that she would hire someone to blow up her own coffin. His hunch had paid off, leaving EOD with the unenviable task of defusing a coffin with a charred, decomposing corpse inside.

He cleared his throat before continuing. This was unexpectedly nerve-wracking.

"Lily was… an amazing woman. She was a mother, a wife, and a federal agent. To me, she was my mentor. She taught me all kinds of things that I had never even dreamt of before I met her. She taught me to think outside the box at all times, and to trust no one. She also spent a lot of time teaching the Probies."

Just as Charlie had expected, everyone at the CIA began to smirk. Lily's ideas for teaching the Probies were well known to be completely unorthodox.

"I happen to know that her next idea involved trying to feed a Probie into a wood chipper," he confessed.

The place erupted into laughter. Even Jenny was laughing. Lily had always believed in diffusing tension by doing completely crazy, often humorous things, and he felt that she would have liked him to carry on the tradition.

Unfortunately, this would involve putting a dead cow into said wood chipper before Arbourne appeared in his office.

He was going to be suspended for sure.

"Lily always knew what she wanted from life. She wanted to serve her country in whatever way she could. She wanted to do whatever was necessary to keep us free and protect us. Her death is a tragedy."

The place was solemn again. From the corner of his eye, Charlie could see that Jenny had rested her head on Gibbs' shoulder. It was so hard to look at Jenny, simply because she appeared to be Lily. But he knew which way round they were – everyone knew. It felt strange to conduct a funeral when the dead person seemed to be present.

"But she would not want us to be upset. She would want us to carry on with our lives, to do our utmost to carry on her work, her way of thinking. She would want us to blow up a few more toilets."

This time, people smiled instead of laughing. The Probies started a look a little nervous, presumably concerned that someone could take him literally.

He hoped they would. His own explosive skills were not very good, and Lily would consider it a good send-off if a few toilets were blown up, in exactly the same way she liked to blow up coffins.

"So, as much as I never imagined this day coming… rest in peace, Lily."

* * *

Abby squeezed McGee's hand again. The ceremony was over, but no one had left. Everyone continued to mingle around the grave, which had now been filled in.

The Goth was not afraid of death, but she missed Lily. She had barely met the CIA agent, but she had been friendly and polite. She had agreed to go ghost hunting with her only the week before!

Abby found herself smiling. Even though Lily could be incredibly infuriating, she had always been nice to her. As her visits to the Navy Yard became more frequent, Lily had started to bring Caf-Pows down to the lab. Once, she had even bought some evidence, claiming that she couldn't be bothered to bug the scientists over at the CIA. It had only needed a few mundane tests, but Abby had enjoyed it. It was good to know that Lily trusted her skills.

And now she was gone.

Abby wanted to get the guy responsible for Lily's death. She was already dreaming up some good ways to kill him, all without leaving a shred of forensic evidence of course. She knew that Gibbs wanted to get the dirtbag too, as did Jenny. It was going to be a fight to come out on top, but she was prepared. She would smile sweetly at Gibbs and he would clear a path for her.

For the moment, she would have to be patient. Her time would come, and when it did…

The Goth wondered if dissolving into mild hysterics at a funeral would give some people cause for concern. The dirtbag didn't have a clue how many people wanted him dead.

The group started to disperse. Great Aunt April bought the four-month-old twins over to Jenny, who accepted them with Gibbs' help. Charlie came over and fussed their little heads.

The somber CIA agents were silently slipping into a long line of black cars designed to take them back to work. Abby had a feeling that the CIA was going to be full of pranks for a couple of weeks, in remembrance of Lily. Alex joined them, leaving Jasper behind.

It took her a moment to realize that Jasper was going with Great Aunt April. The elderly lady quietly put him into her car and drove off without saying a word.

Abby sighed. Back to the Navy Yard. At least she could play some jazz in her lab.


	5. Answers Part 1

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Some serious answers on the way..._

_Quick note to anon: I can reply properly if you sign in! Love the precision, and you are right. And I would have mentioned that if it had happened..._

Chapter 5: Answers Part 1

Ziva David let her eyes sweep around the Director's office. Somehow, it seemed different.

According to her photographic memory, nothing had been removed. Only a single item had been added; a photograph frame on Jenny's desk. She suspected it contained a photo of the sisters. She was very tempted to reach out and have a look at it, especially as Jenny was not yet present.

The only thing that stopped her was her awareness of how much Tony wanted to see it as well. If she picked it up, he would snatch it from her hands and view it himself. As far as she was concerned, this photograph did not need to be seen by NCIS' gossip king.

She was therefore extremely surprised when Gibbs reached out and picked up the frame. She silently sidled closer to him so she could have a look. Without needing to turn around, she could feel Tony and McGee doing the same.

The photo showed two young redheaded girls, unmistakably Jenny and Lily. They appeared to be around five years old. They stared up at the camera with matching grins, their emerald eyes twinkling. Each had an arm wrapped around the other, and they were wearing bathing costumes. It looked as though they were on a sandy beach somewhere. A light dusting of freckles covered their noses.

McGee cleared his throat loudly, and Ziva realized Gibbs had noticed them all crowded around him. The boss did not look happy. Everyone took a step back, returning to their former positions, while Gibbs continued to examine the photo.

Ziva fought down the urge to speak. Lily's funeral had only been the previous day and everyone was still mourning her death. The emotions were just a little bit too raw to bring up right now.

Only for the others though. Ziva had long since accepted that people could die so suddenly. It was not that she did not care, more that she was aware her grief would make no difference to the situation except perhaps get her killed. Dying because you were too busy mourning someone else was an ignominious end.

At last, Jenny entered her office. She did not bother to greet them, merely sitting down in her chair and staring at Gibbs. He ignored her as he scrutinized the photo.

"Agent Gibbs," the Director finally spoke. "Are you standing in my office for a reason?"

"Just admiring the two of you," he replied, replacing the frame in its former position. "Not the one I would pick for my desk."

The redhead unnecessarily straightened the object for a moment. "Which one would you pick?" she inquired.

The smirk on Gibbs' face answered the question.

"If you're only here to bug me, you can leave," she told him.

"We've got a few leads," he answered.

She sat up straight. Ziva did not fail to notice that her hands were shaking. Jenny was supposed to take a week off, but had refused without giving a reason. The Israeli suspected it was because the work would take her mind away from her sister.

This time, McGee spoke up. "Abby has analyzed the bomb. She says it looks like an amateur, but we've had no luck tracing it."

Gibbs glared at him.

"So far," McGee added. "We've still got a few leads to follow."

"I've been going through all the recent threat assessments," Tony began. "Very boring work. Lots of so-called threats from complete idiots who are completely unable to do anything, let alone kill a Director of a federal agency…" He tailed off at the look he received from the Director.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs growled.

"No luck so far," Tony finished.

"I have been calling various contacts," Ziva reported. "No one knew anything about a plot to kill either yourself or your sister."

"I bet a few of them wanted to kill Lily," Gibbs muttered.

Judging by the glare she sent his way, Jenny heard the comment. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Not from my team," Gibbs told her. He turned to the others. "I'm sure you can all find something to do."

Although Ziva was not sure it was a good idea to leave Gibbs and Jenny together, she decided to leave anyway. Jenny could always shoot him if she needed to.

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs stared at the redhead. She was definitely hiding something. He'd had enough of the softly-softly approach. This time, he was prepared to break her.

"What aren't you telling me, Jen?"

She stared straight back into his eyes. "I can't tell you," she replied.

"Lily said you can tell me. She said that initially she told you to keep it a secret, but she changed her mind and told you to come clean."

Jenny went deadly pale. In a flash, he moved behind her desk, glad she was still sitting down. "You talked about it?" she whispered.

He perched on the edge of her desk, close enough to touch her if he needed to. "I caught her going through your mail."

Jenny seemed a little surprised, but masked it well. "She told you nothing."

"She told me it was your secret to tell. In fact, she pleaded the Fifth."

Lily had never pleaded the Fifth with him before. She had tended to harass him further, not ask to be left alone. He was relying on this admission to break her. If it came to it, he could use some other things as well, but that would involve admitting that Cynthia had talked.

Jenny's eyes fluttered closed as she thought. Gibbs did not rush her. She would tell him eventually.

As she reopened them, he could see true fear in her eyes. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I have a stalker."

* * *

Jenny knew from the look in his eyes that Gibbs had expected a lot worse.

"You're the first female Director of an armed federal agency. I expect you have a few stalkers," he confessed.

He was clearly not grasping the situation. "This one isn't a regular guy. He's not just fantasizing or obsessing. Lil took him seriously."

He took a moment to choose his words. "Lily always took threats to your safety seriously."

She looked into his eyes. "My security detail don't know."

"They _need _to know, Jen. It's their job to protect you!"

"Whoever he is, he's been watching me for years. Lil intercepted the letters from the start. She didn't want me to worry and she assumed that he would give up."

"Stalkers rarely give up."

She stood up and walked to the drinks cabinet. "I know."

Gibbs joined her, taking the glass she offered him. "What exactly did she do?"

"Nothing," she admitted. "Like I said, she assumed he would give up. When it became clear that his obsession was starting to spiral out of control, she tried to trace the letters. She took her time, but found nothing."

"Then she wasn't trying hard enough," Gibbs muttered, taking a long sip of bourbon.

"She took her time. She didn't think he was actually a threat, more a… she used the phrase 'intimacy seeker'."

"Doesn't mean anything to me."

"I always meant to ask Ducky for a translation," Jenny continued. "Lil thought this guy worshipped me from afar and wasn't going to take no for an answer. Her view was that ignoring him was the best option."

"Something changed." As usual, Gibbs was figuring it out.

"Originally, she had someone going through my mail before the official channels checked it. After she shot our father…" She took another sip of her drink. "She had her little breakdown. Somehow, a letter slipped through the net."

"You found out you had a stalker in the worst way."

"I panicked. I called Lil and managed to extract a number of promises from her. I could stay in her apartment indefinitely, I could keep the twins there, I would have a few CIA agents sitting outside in an unmarked car at all times, if anyone came in I could shoot first and she would deal with the paperwork –"

"She got over her little breakdown by throwing herself into protecting you," he guessed.

"Exactly," she confirmed.

"You threw me out before he threatened me?" To his credit, he kept his expression neutral.

"He threatened you and he threatened Lil. Lil was always in danger so it didn't faze her. But I couldn't… I couldn't let him…" She felt the tears well up.

Gibbs reached over and bought her into a hug. "You did what you thought was right," he whispered in her ear.

She knew he would not forgive her this easily, but accepted the comforting words. "I'm sorry."

"How did he threaten Lil?" he asked, not relinquishing his grip.

"Just said she was keeping 'us' apart and he would 'remove' her. Said it a lot of times."

"You think he's responsible?"

"Unless your team can find any evidence to the contrary, I think he is."

"Did she ever manage to trace him?"

She shook her head. "She was keeping everything under the radar. Didn't want anyone to figure out what was going on."

"Why not?"

"Because she wanted rid of him without my life becoming one huge security nightmare! Because I want to be able to do _some _things without having to be followed everywhere."

"Comes with the territory," he whispered into her hair.

"I know," she whispered back. "Some days I'd like a break."

"When this is over, you can go on vacation," he promised. "Until then, you don't leave the building without me."

Jenny found herself smiling softly, and she rested her head on Gibbs' shoulder. Just for now, everything was right with the world.


	6. Answers Part 2

_Thanks to my beat Kristen! I believe I promised you all some Lily answers..._

Chapter 6: Answers Part 2

Abby swayed softly to the jazz that was filling her lab. It was a beautiful day outside, but she was happy to stay in her lab and run the evidence.

Someone had to do it after all. And the sun burnt her pale skin. It was much better to remain in the cool building, with the air conditioning on full blast.

She hugged Bert to her chest as she gazed upon the piles of evidence she needed to deal with. Right at the top of her list was running a blood group analysis for Agent Wofford. The Goth carefully set everything up, ensuring that she would get an accurate result. It would be no good if her evidence was thrown out of court. Most defense attorneys did not bother to question her evidence, and she did not want that to change. Going to court as infrequently as she did was aggravating enough, what with having to wear the ridiculous monkey suit.

Abby wondered if Lily had ever had to attend court. Did CIA agents do that sort of thing on a regular basis? Or did they simply shoot their suspects and prevent a trial?

She decided to ask Jenny. The redhead would know whether her sister had ever set foot in a courtroom. Abby swayed softly to the music again, picking up Bert and twirling him round the lab.

She shrieked as she bumped into someone.

"Abs!"

Pulling back from the mountain of human, she realized it was Gibbs. She squealed and engulfed him in a huge hug.

"Abs," he warned.

She let go, glancing round and noticing a nervous Director behind him. "Jenny!" she screeched, launching herself at the redhead.

Jenny staggered backwards slightly at the onslaught. "Hey Abby," she offered.

The Goth let go. "Do you like the jazz? I'm playing it for Lily. I thought she would like it and I know that if _you_ like it then _she _would like it so I really need to know. And another thing, did Lily ever attend court? Because I was thinking about how she would go completely mad cooped up inside a courtroom and maybe she would blow something up and then the judge would have to hold her for contempt of court or something similar, I never was any good at the legal niceties, although I do understand the legal niceties in regards to evidence because I wouldn't want you to think that I don't, and –"

"Breath, Abs," Gibbs ordered.

"Lil went to court a few times," Jenny answered with a slight smile on her face. "The only reason she didn't blow anything up is because I made her promise not to. And I do like the jazz. It's very thoughtful of you."

Abby bounced up and down in delight. "Why are you down here then?"

"Got some evidence for you," Gibbs told her.

The Goth did not fail to see the brief shadow that crossed Jenny's face, but decided not to say anything. "Is it something cool?"

"Not really." Gibbs withdrew a plastic evidence bag from his pocket and handed it over.

Abby grabbed a pen from the side and looked for where she was supposed to sign.

"This… doesn't have a case number yet," Jenny spoke up.

Abby paused. "Is this something where chain of evidence won't be necessary?"

Gibbs and Jenny shared a look. "Yes," Gibbs confirmed, his eyes not leaving Jenny's.

"Okay then," the Goth replied, putting the pen down. She put on a pair of nitrile gloves before examining the paper. "Erm…"

"Ignore the contents," Gibbs advised.

"Have you even _seen _this?" Abby queried. "'_To my darling Jennifer, I know how much you need me, as I need you. You are the air that I breathe. You are the most –_'" She tailed off, noticing just how pale Jenny had gone.

Gibbs moved over to the redhead's side and guided her gently into a chair.

"I'll ignore the contents," Abby agreed. "Was this handled with gloves?"

"No," Jenny whispered.

Abby winced. "Who broke protocol?"

"Lil did," Jenny added, her voice still quiet. "I suspect the people she asked to examine it might have done the same."

The Goth thought for a moment. "Fingerprints will be useless then. I could do a handwriting analysis."

"Whatever you think is right," Gibbs coaxed.

"Do you have the envelope? The stamp would have traces of DNA."

"It came through the internal mail," Jenny informed her. "No stamp. Lil traced it back to the FBI."

"You didn't mention that," Gibbs growled.

She glared at him. "You didn't ask."

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly. "We need to call in Fornell. He might be able to help us."

* * *

Timothy McGee watched as Ducky reread the letter. The whole team had gathered in Abby's lab after being sworn to secrecy by Gibbs.

The letters were creepy. Jenny had been escorted home by Ziva, at Gibbs' insistence, to collect more of them. McGee doubted that she had bought all of them over. It was more likely that she had picked the less disturbing ones so as not to worry everyone.

If these were the more sane ones, he dreaded seeing the others.

He was beginning to understand why Jenny had been so different in the few months. She had been scared, pushing people away, staying away from Gibbs who might have been able to see through her carefully constructed mask. Lily had been in the building regularly to keep an eye on her sister, to protect her from this maniac.

McGee knew for a fact that the letter-writer wasn't going to be walking this earth much longer. It was now a race for who killed him first: Gibbs or Ziva.

Gibbs seemed calm, but McGee could see through the front. The older man wanted to punch something, although he was trying to comfort the Director at the same time. She was clearly upset about the letters, for a good reason.

Meanwhile, Ziva was pacing up and down, muttering to herself in Hebrew. McGee suspected she was planning exactly how to torture the man who had hurt her friend. He wanted to be around when it happened.

Ducky stood up, and the group gathered around him.

"I believe that Lily had the correct impression, at first," he announced. "This man started out as an 'intimacy seeker'."

"Translation," growled Gibbs.

"To put it simply, he believes that our dear Jennifer," he turned to smile at her, "Is his soulmate. He believes that they are destined to be together, and she loves him just as much as he loves her."

"Crazy," Tony murmured.

"Now, young Lily had the right idea for dealing with him. Any contact with this type of person can further his delusions. Even if he is gently told she is not interested, he will ignore it."

"Go Lily," Ziva added.

"What happened here is that over time, our man changed from being an 'intimacy seeker' to a 'rejected stalker'. He is obsessed with her. He is struggling to connect his desire for both reconciliation and revenge."

"Do you think he's responsible for what happened to Lil?" Jenny asked.

"Quite possibly," Ducky answered. "He sees her as an obstacle to your true happiness, an obstacle that needs to be removed."

"When was the last time you received a letter?" Ziva checked.

"The day of the car bomb," Jenny admitted.

"So there has been no opportunity for him to claim responsibility for her death yet?"

"He sends them about once a week," Jenny mused. "I'm due another one soon."

"I'll get someone to check your mail," Gibbs promised, moving over to her side.

Jenny sighed softly. "I want to see Jasper," she told him. "I miss him."

"Do you have to?" Gibbs queried.

Jenny glared at him.

Gibbs sighed. "Fine. But we all come."

* * *

Gibbs glanced at the house as he walked up the drive. It was a rundown two-storey brick building, with a well-kept garden out the front. He guessed there was another one round the back. The contrast between the house and the garden was extreme.

Jenny had provided the directions to her Great Aunt April's house, and he and the team had bundled into two cars to transport her safely. No one wanted to stay behind; even Ducky and Abby had come along.

Jenny knocked firmly on the front door. The paint was clearly flaking off, leaving blue flecks on her skin. With practiced skill, she removed them. Gibbs withheld a smirk.

At least some things were returning to normal.

The door was answered by Great Aunt April herself. She beamed at the crowd on her doorstep. "What took you so long?" she smiled. "You'll find what you are looking for in the back room."

Jenny had barely taken a step inside when Jasper darted across the hallway. "Dammit!" he yelled. "Dammit!"

"What's wrong?" Abby worried.

Jenny turned around slightly. "Great Aunt April decided to name her cat 'Dammit'. You'll get used to it."

Obediently, they all filed into the back room. They were not prepared for what they found…

Lying flat on her back on the couch, was one Lily Shepard.

"Anyone miss me?" she asked.


	7. Answers Part 3

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! The final chapter of answers, before the stalker returns. Hopefully, this should set a few things straight._

Chapter 7: Answers Part 3

Lily withheld a smirk as she took in the faces of everyone in the room. With the exception of Jasper, who was busy fussing Dammit, they had all frozen in place.

Did they honestly think she had died? Jenny should have known better; she should have thought about it more. They knew when the other was in trouble, but she had not picked up on a car bomb? Lily resisted the urge to shake her head in frustration.

Briefly, she wondered what was going through LJ's head. Had he been pleased about her 'death'? Had he believed he was finally shot of her? She made a mental note to harass him until he gave her the full details, and banished it to the back of her mind.

Abby's mouth was hanging open. It made Lily feel on top of the world. She'd been stuck in this house for the better part of a week, unable even to stick her head out of a window in case someone realized she was still alive, and it had clearly paid off. She had managed to convince one of the best forensic scientists she had ever run into of her untimely demise. It made everything worth it.

Ducky was staring at her as though she had come to life on his autopsy table. She recognized the look, having terrified a few new medical examiners in the CIA. It was surprisingly good fun to pop out of a body bag or a latched morgue drawer, even if she needed a little help to get there in the first place. The only reason she had never done it to Ducky was that she was quite fond of him.

McGee was impersonating a goldfish. He had an utterly hilarious expression on his face. She was tempted to walk up to him and pinch his nose to prove she was really present. He looked so sweet and innocent.

Ziva was visibly thinking fast, trying to make all the pieces slot together. Lily had always admired the Israeli's sharp mind, and her extensive experience of difficult situations. She had decided that Ziva was the one most likely to figure out what had really happened, after Jenny. But Jenny had not been thinking straight for the past month, making it easier for her to hide her intentions.

Tony's mouth was starting to form into a grin. He was definitely pleased to see her in one piece, although he also appeared curious about what had happened. She half expected him to pull her into a bear hug, and she knew she would not stop him. She had missed human contact while she was 'dead', and was slowly starting to feel as though she belonged again.

In her mind, it was a toss-up as to whether Tony would hug her before Abby. It was going to come down to whoever recovered first.

To her surprise, Jenny pulled herself out of the trance before the others. She took three quick strides across the room and slapped her straight across the face.

"What were you thinking?!" she screamed.

* * *

Jenny had not been as furious as this in a long time. She had been slowly adjusting to the painful thought of Lily being dead, and now her irrepressible sister was lounging casually on a couch and grinning as if she had just heard the world's best joke.

Or blown up another toilet.

For the last five days, her heart had felt as though it had been torn out. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen her sister's face, pleading for help. She had felt like a complete failure for allowing her sister to die. And she hadn't even felt the moment her sister had been taken from her side forever! Considering neither of them could get a paper cut without the other knowing about it, it had compounded her grief.

All this time, Lily had been crashing at Great Aunt April's place. Probably eating a large amount of wonderful home cooking, having long lie-ins, barely stirring from her position on the couch, watching television all day long, being waited on hand and foot…

A slap was the very least of what she deserved. If she had a shotgun to hand, Lily would dead for real.

How could she have done this? A single phone call would have made her feel better. A phone call, a letter, an email, _any _form of contact would have been appreciated. Something to tell her that everything had been a lie.

In one swift move, she pulled Lily out from under her blanket and slammed her against the nearest wall. The shock in Lily's eyes spurred her on.

"You had better give me one _extremely _good explanation or we're going to be holding another funeral for you," she hissed.

"LJ," Lily called. "Get her off me."

"Not a chance," Gibbs replied. "You deserve anything you get."

"I guess you two have kissed and made up then," Lily quipped, a smirk crossing her face. "Unfortunately, I've got two bruised ribs and numerous cuts and bruises. This position is not helping the healing process."

Jenny quirked an eyebrow.

"You put me down and I'll talk?" Lily suggested.

Jenny tightened her grip for a moment before releasing her sister. Lily stumbled slightly, but recovered her balance. Everyone scrambled for a chair, while Lily settled herself back into her little bed on the couch.

Great Aunt April appeared in the room with a large tray of drinks and proceeded to hand out mugs of coffee to everyone. Gibbs took his with a grateful smile, while the others all muttered a quick "Thanks". Jenny did not shift her gaze from her errant sister.

"Talk," she ordered.

"I didn't know about the bomb," Lily answered. "I hadn't heard any intelligence suggesting there would be an attack."

"They know about the letters," Jenny added.

Lily smiled. "Good for you, JL. Anyway, I went to the charity ball as a favor for you, nothing more. If Agent DiNozzo hadn't been too busy trying not to stare at my butt, he would have noticed four people in the car before I climbed into it."

"Four?" Tony spluttered. "One driver, two bodyguards. Who was the fourth?"

"Another bodyguard," Lily admitted. "Something felt off all evening. The bodyguards felt it too and called someone else out to help them. Agent Kline was in the area and wanted some overtime."

"Agent Kline was buried as you," Ducky muttered.

"I'll get back to that," Lily promised. "I got in the car, it drove off. That lovely diamond necklace had a dodgy clasp; I was struggling to keep it around my neck all evening. It slipped off the moment I sat down. I reached down to pick it up and had a gut feeling that I needed to get out of the car immediately."

"You followed that feeling?" Gibbs inquired.

"You follow yours, I follow mine," she retorted. "As the car rounded the corner, I opened the door and jumped out. Scraped my knees and elbows nicely." She rubbed them softly. "Before I could even draw a breath, the car blew. The shockwave carried me a short distance from the car."

"You should have waited for help," Gibbs growled.

"Someone just tried to kill me and I was standing in the open? I was injured! First thing I did was get out of there. I didn't slow down until I got here; I figured no one would look for me here. The Great Aunt took me in, gave me as much first aid as was possible, and let me watch the news. Loved the coverage, by the way."

Jenny glared at her; Lily tried to recover her train of thought.

"Letter guy thought I was dead. He thought his path was clear. If I stay out of sight for a little while, he might make a move. It could lead us right to him!"

"Funeral," Jenny snapped.

"I wasn't going to stop it," Lily grinned. "Wish I had been able to watch it. That would have been fun. I asked the Great Aunt to bring me my beautiful son afterwards, because I didn't want him to be upset."

On the floor, Jasper looked up from stroking Dammit and gave an impish grin. "Mom rocks," he announced.

"Does the word 'irresponsible' mean anything to you?" Jenny groaned.

"It gave me the perfect opportunity!" Lily argued. "I want this guy's head on a platter, and he gave me a way to flush him out!"

Jenny felt herself falling for her sister's point of view. It was a very normal occurrence. It was simply impossible for them to stay mad at each other for long.

"I ran the DNA," Abby piped up. "It was yours."

"I got someone to switch mine and Agent Kline's records," Lily winced. "If you'd ran it against Jenny's DNA, you wouldn't have got a match, but I couldn't change the other file while you had access to Jenny."

Silence filled the room for a while as everyone digested the new information.

Finally, Jenny got up and walked over to the couch. Lily stood up with a slightly nervous expression.

"Next time," Jenny warned. "I get a phone call."

"Deal," Lily agreed.

Jenny pulled her sister into a hug. "Please don't do that again," she whispered in her ear.

"I can't promise anything," her sister whispered back. "But I'm sorry."

After a few minutes, they pulled apart.

"What now?" McGee asked.

"We're all going back to the Navy Yard," Jenny decided. "And that includes Lil."


	8. Langer Leering

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! It might be worth reminding you that season 6 never existed here, and thus Langer stayed at the FBI..._

Chapter 8: Langer Leering

Barely an hour after learning of Lily's continued existence, Ziva David found herself standing in the Director's office, watching a particularly fine butt.

It was all Lily's doing. The sisters, as identical as ever although Lily was trying not to limp, had vanished into the office as soon as they had arrived back at the Navy Yard. Ducky had excused himself and disappeared back down to Autopsy. Abby had stayed in the squad room, happily bouncing around and bugging everyone.

Tony had started chatting away to anyone who would listen, clearly pleased that Lily was still above the ground. McGee had tried to design a banner on Abby's instructions, proclaiming the good news. Ziva herself had been unable to wipe a smile from her face, and had chosen to help with the banner design.

When Abby had tried to rope people into planning a big 'Welcome Back From The Dead' party, Gibbs had tried to regain control of the situation. He had ordered Abby to calm down, and told everyone else to continue the hunt for whoever blew up the car five days ago.

Almost two minutes later, Ziva's phone had rung and she had been ordered up to the Director's office. She had also been asked to bring Abby. Knocking on the door, she had soon discovered why they had been invited in.

Agent Langer of the FBI was busy trying to reattach a vital cable for Jenny's computer. While he crouched under the desk, Jenny and Lily were staring at his butt. One of the redheads – Ziva could not tell them apart – had beckoned the two newcomers over, and they were all leaning against the back wall, staring at Langer.

For his part, Langer was oblivious to the response he was generating. One of the sisters, probably Lily, was trying to guide him through the reattachment of the cable, arguing that she couldn't quite reach far enough to push it back in. Langer seemed to be struggling with the task, although Ziva could not understand why. It should be a simple job, although she had no intention of helping him at the moment. The view was too good.

"It's still not working," the redhead on the left told him. "I really need this fixed."

"You couldn't call someone from IT to help out?" Langer queried, his voice slightly muffled.

"They're very busy," came the reply. "It's just a cable reattachment. I guessed anyone could do it."

"It doesn't want to go in," Langer answered.

"Are you sure you're trying to connect it to the right place?"

"I've tried everything. I'll give it another go."

"You're a star," the sister grinned, her eyes never deviating from his backside.

A knock came at the door. "Enter," the other sister ordered.

Tony, McGee and Fornell filed in. "Hey Abs," McGee greeted the Goth. "What's' –"

"Everything's under control, Agent McGee," the redhead on the left interrupted.

"What are you ladies staring at?" Tony asked, confused.

The door swung open again rapidly and Gibbs entered. He took in the scene for a few moments.

"Who's under there?" he demanded.

"Langer," Ziva replied.

Gibbs raised his voice. "If you're holding a purple cable, come out now," he ordered.

Much to Ziva' disappointment, Langer emerged from under the desk. "Hey Gibbs," he frowned. "How did you know –"

Gibbs snatched the cable from his hands and glared at the redhead on the left. "I am fed up of confiscating these," he warned.

The redhead grinned impishly. "You can't stop me."

"What's going on?" Langer questioned.

"Lily has a supply of these purple cables," Gibbs explained. "They don't fit in the computer, but it gives her a good excuse to stare at agent's butts."

Lily's grin widened. "I'm not harming anyone," she argued.

Ziva turned to her. "The cables do not fit?" she checked.

"That is correct."

"Do you have any spare?"

Abby turned too. "Can I have some as well?"

Gibbs decided to protest. "If I see another one of these –"

"You'll do what, LJ?" Lily smirked. "I have a contact who gives me boxes of these cables. They're only going to be thrown into landfill. How exactly are you going to stop me?"

Gibbs glared at her; she waggled her eyebrows.

"Spoilsport," she teased.

Gibbs shook his head softly.

* * *

Fornell kept his eyes on the two redheads. One of them was arguing with Gibbs, while the other looked on in amusement.

He had not been surprised to hear via Gibbs that Lily was dead. The one and only time he had run into her she had been impersonating her sister and trying to end a hostage crisis. Although she had seemed intelligent and experienced, she had also appeared to be reckless and irresponsible. The latter qualities usually led to a shortened life span for agents.

And now she was alive?

Gibbs had clearly forgotten to mention this. But he also knew about her mind games, which she had deployed to great effect during the same crisis. Had she faked her death as part of a game? What game was she playing now? He doubted that she could just stop playing games, and suspected she would have several on the go at the same time.

The sisters seemed close, even now. They stood barely millimeters apart, both of them smiling softly while one argued. The silent one made no attempt to interrupt or end the squabble with Gibbs, choosing instead to observe. He guessed this was Jenny, as the Director was not normally petty. And the disagreement was definitely becoming very petty.

"This is coming from the guy who managed to get Montana and New Mexico mixed up," the redhead snapped.

"If you had been holding the map the right way up, that would never have happened," Gibbs retorted.

"You don't know your states without a map and an extremely jetlagged CIA agent?" Lily smirked.

"You were not jetlagged."

"I had just stepped off a flight from China when you snatched me and demanded I drive halfway across the country because your own team were all too hungover to be of any use! I couldn't even doze while you drove because the blare of car horns prevented me from sleeping."

"I bought you coffee," he defended.

"_Decaf_!" she protested. "Even on my worst days, Arbourne doesn't give me decaf."

"Only because your boss is a lunatic."

"No, it's pronounced 'SEAL'. And he trusts my judgment."

"Oh really?" Gibbs seemed amused by this.

"Well… most of the time," she argued. "But he knows better than to give me decaf. If you'd really given me coffee, I might not have guided you into that stream."

"I knew you did that on purpose," Gibbs shot back.

"Of course I did it on purpose – it was a whacking great big river! How did you not see it before the water started pouring through the open windows?"

"Enough." The Director ended the argument with a single word. Gibbs glared at her, while Lily stuck her tongue out at Gibbs behind her sister's back. "Where were we?"

"About to brief me," Fornell spoke up.

The Director considered for a moment. "Lil, go sit by the door," she ordered. "Agent Gibbs, the couch is yours."

The agents looked bemused for a moment, but Lily figured it out. "You want us as far apart as is physically possible."

"If it prevents one spat, then yes," Jenny replied. "Move."

* * *

Tony DiNozzo tuned out most of the briefing. He had already heard it once, and did not need to pay attention again.

Instead, he kept his gaze on Lily. The redhead was sitting on the floor, her back against the door to Jenny's office. She had closed her eyes and was subconsciously rubbing her knees again. It took him a moment to recall that she had scraped her knees and elbows when she had jumped out of the car.

He wondered if her injuries really hurt, or if she had just gotten into the habit of rubbing them as they healed. Her bruised ribs seemed more of a problem, although she had bruised her ribs several times before now. He was amazed she had never broken them, what with all the explosions she ended up involved in.

Had she ever blown herself up by accident? He doubted she would ever tell him the truth if she had. Perhaps it would be a better idea to ask Jenny, or even the boss. If Gibbs had heard of it, he would never let her live it down.

"Basically," Fornell attempted to sum everything up. "Someone within the FBI is stalking your Director."

"And tried to kill me, and actually killed four NCIS agents," Lily added from across the room, not bothering to open her eyes. Tony wondered how badly she was really hurt if she was so tired.

"Do you have anything else to go on?" Fornell continued. "The FBI employs a lot of people."

"He's good at concealing himself," Lily answered. "Narrowing it down to the FBI was a big break for us."

Gibbs shook his head. "You've been looking at this in the wrong way," he pointed out.

This time Lily opened her eyes. "And how would that be, Einstein?"

"You started off with a suspect list that included everyone. However, whoever is sending these letters can tell you apart. That should narrow down your list to only a handful."

Lily slapped herself on the back of the head. "I am such an idiot," she groaned.

"Tell me about it," Gibbs smirked.


	9. The List

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! It's snowing here! It's so beautiful..._

Chapter 9: The List

Timothy McGee looked on as the Director and Lily sat by the desk and began to whisper. Their task was to figure out who could tell the sisters apart, and they had chosen to do it slightly apart from the rest of the team. It made sense; the sisters were very private and did not tend to share their secrets with anyone.

McGee could count on one hand the number of people he knew who could tell them apart. Gibbs was the obvious one, although he would never stalk the Director. The boss might want to see Lily get her comeuppance, but he wouldn't wish her dead. Jenny had been in pieces while her sister had been 'dead', and Gibbs had spent a lot of time trying to comfort her.

Jasper Thompson was the next person. But an eight year old was not a typical stalker, especially as he was Lily's son and the Director's nephew. He doted on his mother and aunt, and was certainly not responsible for this.

Lily's fiancé Alex could presumably tell the sisters apart. It would be highly embarrassing if he didn't, and although Lily enjoyed embarrassing Gibbs on a regular basis, she would probably go out of her way to make sure her fiancé would not get them mixed up.

The only other person McGee could think of was Great Aunt April. She was a wonderful lady in her eighties, but still as nimble as a goat. Her mind was sharp, and it was easy to see why Lily had followed her into the CIA. She even called Lily by her real name – Lilith – rather than shortening it. The only problem was that Great Aunt April having anything to do with this was about as likely as Gibbs walking into the squad room one day and announcing to everyone that he was going to have a sex change.

Four people. None of whom were in the least bit likely to stalk the Director and attempt to kill Lily. There had to be other people who could tell them apart, although it seemed impossible to do so.

Only their personalities were different. Lily was more reckless, more impulsive, while the Director planned and thought things through. Lily found it fun to play with people's minds, while Jenny tried to guide people rather than control their every move. But they were both highly protective of the other, and could switch places at the drop of a hat.

McGee knew most people got them horribly confused. Even Lily's boss could not tell them apart, resorting to asking Jasper to do it for him. Yet Arbourne had some measure of control over his agent, even while Lily wound him up and tried to give him a heart attack. It was a strange relationship, but it seemed to be productive. Lily often needed someone who would rein her in when her head was in the clouds.

He continued to watch as the sisters continued to whisper. The Director had chosen to sit in her chair, while Lily was perching on the desk. Lily was making notes on a piece of paper as they talked, probably jotting down ideas and thoughts. Anything to catch this guy.

Lily was still officially dead. She had not bothered to sort out the paperwork that came with faked deaths just yet, focusing her energies on her sister instead. McGee wondered how her boss was going to react, before turning his attention back to the other occupants of the room.

* * *

Gibbs ignored the redheads in the corner. Left alone, they would come up with a list. If he paid too much attention to them, they would become distracted and Lily could well harass him. They needed to smooth out the list between them before rejoining the group.

He hoped they would not remove a few names to mollify him. Jenny might try to do so, but Lily would hopefully persuade her to keep them. Sometimes Lily had the right idea; most of the time she was in a world of her own.

He was perhaps the only one in the room who knew why Jenny had forgiven her sister almost instantly. They were too alike to stay mad at each other for long; they simply came round to the other's point of view. It would take something extremely serious for them to stop talking, and not even Lily murdering their father had managed to drive a wedge between them.

He wondered if they had ever had a major falling out. It would be quite fun to watch, although less fun if he ended up embroiled in it. Which he probably would. Jenny would expect him to take her side which he almost certainly would, while Lily would take out her frustrations on him. He shuddered imperceptibly. Lily could lash out incredibly well.

Like the time he had broken into her apartment and stole her television remote. It had been revenge for her confiscating all his hand tools, and he felt it was deserved. She had responded by covering his keyboard in strategically placed superglue, catching the whole thing on video, and emailing it to every agent in the Navy Yard. He hadn't bothered to get her back for that, knowing he would come off worse in a fight.

Part of him wondered if the car bomb had not been an attempt on Jenny's life but on Lily's. The CIA agent had a habit of collecting enemies like some people did stamps. But whoever placed the bomb would then have to be able to tell the sisters apart, unless they didn't care who they hurt. That would only make them more dangerous.

Gibbs was slowly starting to accept that Lily had made a good choice in staying 'dead'. If someone was coming after her, it would keep them off her back until she recovered and give her an edge. If someone was trying to hurt Jenny, they would be able to see her grief and might leave her alone for a little while, giving Lily time to trace them. Either way, she had been buying time.

Rubbing his brow softly, he returned to his questioning of the FBI agents. "Has anyone been acting suspiciously lately?" he asked.

Fornell snorted. "The FBI employs over thirty thousand people compared to your puny 2,400. I don't know each of them personally."

Gibbs was undeterred. "Have any of them displayed an unnatural interest in Jenny?"

"Want me to go round and ask each and every one of them?" Fornell replied. "Nothing has been bought to my attention before now, but in the light of what is happening, I can make a few discrete inquiries."

* * *

Ziva David looked on as Gibbs and Fornell continued to work out what needed to be done. She thought that part was pretty simple: catch the guy and kill him.

Although she would not necessarily kill him outright. She was already dreaming up some interesting torture techniques to make him suffer for hurting her friend. He would be very sorry he had ever set eyes on the redhead, much less decided to go after her.

She longed for action. All this sitting around and talking was giving their target more and more time to plan his next move. And this time they might not get lucky. This time he could kidnap Jenny or kill someone else. He might realize that Lily was still alive. He could even kidnap Jasper and try to trade him.

They needed to do something more productive. Lily would probably agree with her, if she was not busy trying to work out who it could be.

The sisters would give them useful information. If only a few people could tell them apart, it would narrow down the suspect list immensely. Ten, or even twenty names were manageable; they could be split however many ways and researched. If any of them worked for the FBI, they would be at the top of their suspect list.

But surely the rest of them could find something else to do? Abby could do with help to run her tests. Lily might need to be put under protective custody, although she would undoubtedly refuse. She would be more dangerous on her own than being restrained anyway. Right now, they needed a dangerous Lily. She would think outside the box and come up with some spectacular plan to sort this whole mess out.

Even though she had been the one to drop the ball.

Finally, the sisters stopped whispering and made their way back to the group. Lily handed over a list to Gibbs.

"What exactly is on here?" Gibbs checked.

"Everyone who can tell us apart, bar family," Jenny answered. "It's not a relative."

"I wanted to put down everyone either of us has ever slept with," Lily added. "But Little Miss I Have A Private Life That Is Nobody's Business But My Own decided to do it her way."

Tony grinned. "I'd like to see _that_ list."

Jenny glared at him while Lily grinned straight back.

"Two names," Gibbs announced. "Paul Inkman and Mick Higgs."

"Two suspects," Lily corrected. "One of them is the stalker."


	10. Mail Order

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! I hate writer's block. I really really hate it. I thought I was over it, but it came back to clobber me over the head again..._

Chapter 10: Mail Order

Lily did not bother to hide her search of Jenny's mail the next morning. She chose to do it in full view of LJ's team by picking their boss' desk to sit at. Piles of paper were everywhere when he returned from a coffee run.

She did not have to look to know he was glaring at her, instead continuing to go through the envelopes. Some were clearly official, so she ignored them. There was no point in giving herself extra paperwork when it was really Jenny's job. Carefully tossing them into one pile, she flicked through the pile again.

Internal mail went next. Anything placed on Cynthia's desk from within NCIS was placed in a new pile. There were case files, transfer forms, intelligence reports, personnel files… huge quantities of paper were removed from her search. Part of her wanted to poke through them in order to see how far behind the times her sister's agency was, but it would cost her too much time.

LJ finally reappeared with a chair and sat down opposite her. He cast one distasteful glance over her two piles on the desk, and turned his attention to the remaining collection in her hands.

Now she took her time. The letter she was expecting would not be obvious. It usually hid in amongst everything else. She had not bothered to locate any latex gloves, knowing from experience that the mail was passed through many hands before it reached its destination, and she would not find any useful prints. Whichever one of their two suspects he was, he knew how to avoid detection. The people she had asked to examine the letter had gotten nowhere before now.

She would deal with them later, when this was all over.

She decided to play her current favorite game: Guess the Envelope. Without opening any of them, she tried to work out which envelope was the one she was searching for. The first few did not set off any alarm bells, so she placed them in a new pile to double check later if she ended up guessing wrong. A small cluster caught her attention, leading her to place the rest of the pile down and close her eyes briefly.

"Get on with it," LJ ordered.

She opened her eyes to glare at him. "This is an art," she retorted.

"Give them to me," he demanded, reaching out for them.

She slapped his hand away with practiced ease. He gave a small whimper, which warmed the cockles of her heart. The joys of annoying LJ… She took a deep breath and went back to her final three envelopes.

It was one of these; she was sure of it.

Running her fingers gently across the front of each of them, she listened to her judgment. It was not the first one. The second one seemed okay. And the third…

"This one," she announced, handing it over to LJ.

"Positive?" he checked.

"If it is not that one," she declared, "I will run naked around the squad room on your birthday."

"Jenny will kill you," he warned, before heading in the direction of Abby's lab.

Lily leant back in his chair. Still alive, and so was Jenny. So far, her day was going very well.

* * *

Abby continued to let the jazz fill her lab. Lily might be alive, but she wasn't going to jinx it. If she played it for a few more days, it would not break the magic.

Anyway, Jenny had said that Lily would like it, and there was always the off chance Lily might appear in the lab. She might have some important forensic work she needed doing, or a spare Caf-Pow to give away, or a few minutes to kill before she blew something up.

You could never tell with Lily.

She bounced towards her work, excited at her tasks for today. First stop, a hair analysis. She stared down her microscope for a few moments before bringing the image up on the main screen for easier viewing. Obviously a bat, what with all the pretty spikes on the hair. She decided to see if she could narrow it down to a species, so headed into her office for her reference guide.

But it wasn't there. She began to search high and low, under files and under Bert. It had to be here somewhere… She had last used it the previous week, during the Spencer case. Agent Wofford had found something in the boot of the suspect's car, and the Goth had been able to prove it was bat hair from a local cave. And here was another bat hair…

She wondered if the two hairs were connected before resuming her search. Tony had been in her office since then. Might he have removed it to play with her mind? It was very Tony-esque, but why would he pick this book? She rarely had to resort to it; only McGee would know that. And he wouldn't dare to steal it…

The only other option was that Agent Wofford had borrowed it without asking permission. Feeling a surge of anger well up, Abby returned to the comfort of her lab and began to dial. No one took her belongings and got away with it!

The elevator dinged and she hung up immediately. This could be Agent Wofford now, and she had no problem with giving someone a piece of her mind to their face.

"Hey, Abs," Gibbs greeted her as he appeared. "Got something for you."

She beamed at the sight of the envelope in his hand. "Which case?" she asked, reaching for the nitrile gloves.

He stared at her.

"Oh, _that_ case." Her face fell and she was glad the jazz was still playing. "You should be wearing gloves."

"Lots of people have handling the envelope before it arrived here," he pointed out, placing a large Caf-Pow on her desk. "But no one has touched the letter inside."

"How can you be sure it's the right envelope then?" she mused. "Or is it your famous gut speaking?"

"Lily's gut," he corrected. "She seems certain it's this one."

With her gloved fingers, the Goth carefully extracted the letter from the envelope. It only took a glance to be sure it was the right letter. The same disturbing rantings filled the single page, this time claiming responsibility for Lily's 'death'.

"That's one problem out of the way," she heard Gibbs mutter.

"Which problem?" she inquired.

"The stalker and the bomber are the same person," he concluded. "How long until you have something?"

"A while," she decided. "It would be quicker if I had something to match it to, like a sample of handwriting."

Gibbs considered this for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," he promised, before kissing her cheek and leaving.

Abby smiled to herself. More evidence was good.

* * *

Gibbs entered the squad room in a hurry. He didn't trust Lily at his desk, and he also did not want to run to risk of Jenny figuring out that her mail had been searched.

Fortunately, Lily and the piles of envelopes were nowhere to be seen. With a bit of luck, she had taken the pile upstairs and dumped it on Cynthia's desk, before disappearing into Jenny's office to keep her sister calm. The letter would almost certainly not be mentioned by either party.

He turned his attention to his team instead. Tony was busy tapping away at his keyboard, Ziva seemed to be on hold, and McGee was typing so fast that it hurt Gibbs' fingers just to watch.

How could anyone type so quickly and yet so accurately?

His team constantly surprised him, although he kept it well-hidden. Ziva was able to surprise anyone, even Lily from time to time. McGee could be very nervous and timid one minute, and an exceptional field agent in the next. Tony came up with intuitive leaps just when they were needed. They might spend their spare time squabbling like children, or occasionally like him and Lily, but they worked well together. He could not see a way to improve his team.

"Report," he demanded, taking his chair back before Lily could reappear and sit on it again.

Tony stood up first. "Paul Inkman, born 1961, attended the same college as the sisters. Other than that, I'm having problems linking them or locating him now."

"He was studying politic science, as was Jenny," Ziva interrupted. "They were in different years but their paths crossed. My source says that they dated for a few months but it did not work out."

"Trouble in paradise?" Tony quipped.

"Ask Jenny," Ziva shrugged.

"Could give us motive," Tony pointed out.

"He died three years ago in a motorcycle accident," Ziva finished, smirking at her partner.

"Leaves us with Mick Higgs," Gibbs concluded. "Anyone found him yet?"

"I've managed to trace him up to 1994, boss," McGee called, his eyes not leaving his computer screen.

"How is he connected to Jenny?" Tony queried.

"Find out," Gibbs ordered, leaving for more coffee. He had a feeling he was going to need it.


	11. The Alarm Clock Incident

_Thanks to my beta Kristen. With the help of Aly, I got over my writers block yesterday, although I have been bogged down in real life today. Hope to return to writing soon._

_Oh, and Valentine's Day oneshots, including one with Lily, should be appearing soon._

_I've been teasing this incident for a little while, so I thought I'd explain it..._

Chapter 11: The Alarm Clock Incident

Jenny's eyes widened slightly as Gibbs' team filed into her office. For her part, Lily did not stir from the couch.

Her sister was tired, although she was still struggling not to show it. Lily had always considered any injury to be a sign of weakness, just as Gibbs considered apologies to be. When she had arrived a few hours ago, Jenny had steered her sister straight over to the couch to lie down. Lily was still limping ever so slightly, and her right elbow seemed to be stiff. Jenny had been seriously tempted to slip her some valium to give her a chance to rest, but decided against it. Lily needed to be conscious for this, not drugged up.

Instead, her errant sister had spent the morning dozing on the couch. The occasional faint snore came from her, and she had almost fallen off the couch more than once. Jenny had left her to sleep, knowing that things were bound to spiral out of control soon. Catching up on sleep when things were quiet was a good idea.

Jenny had spent her time tackling the huge mountain of paperwork that seemed to grow overnight. She knew Lily would have already searched it for any letters, which calmed her and encouraged her to jump straight in. She had a productive few hours; the only interruption coming from Cynthia when she bought in a much-welcomed cup of coffee. Otherwise, time flew by, her mind too occupied to worry about anything else.

Although it had sporadically drifted. Someone somewhere was out to kill her sister because he believed she would come running into his arms. The bomb had only shown the lengths he was prepared to go to, and it unnerved her. Knowing that Jethro would do anything she asked, within reason, was one thing, but this guy was insane.

Having it narrowed down to two people did not cheer her up. She could see both of them in her mind's eye: Paul and Mick. Lily had known them as well, which made sense, especially what she had done to both of them.

She wondered where they were nowadays, before realizing that Gibbs would be finding precisely that out. One of these men was after her, but her warning bells did not ring. Both of them had been nice, caring, good people. What had changed?

Perhaps Lily had seen something in them she hadn't. Her actions at the time had made as much sense as they usually did, but maybe her gut had been churning.

In front of her, Gibbs cleared his throat quietly, drawing her back to the present. She let her eyes flick over to Lily, who somehow managed to wake up at the right moment.

"If this is not urgent," Lily groaned, "I demand valium."

"We've narrowed it down to one name," Gibbs informed them both.

Jenny watched as her sister carefully rolled off the couch and came round to her side of the desk. "Please tell me it's Higgs," Lily wished, perching on the arm of her chair.

"Get off," Jenny protested, trying to push her sister away.

Lily groaned again. "Leave me alone," she countered.

Jenny noticed Gibbs rolling his eyes and decided to fight later. "Name."

"Mick Higgs," he answered.

"Yes!" Lily yelled, her pain mostly forgotten.

Jenny knew exactly why she was so happy, but Gibbs had another idea. "Glad to see you're so happy at us being able to name him," he smirked.

"It's not that," Jenny replied, wondering if she could send everyone out for a few minutes and kill her sister before she talked.

"Your next question is going to be about who Mick was and why Jenny split up with him," Lily continued. "And I love this tale."

Gibbs looked concerned. "How disturbing will this be?" he questioned.

"We were sweet sixteen," Lily began.

Jenny cut her off. "You were never _sweet _sixteen."

"I was an angel at that age!"

"Have you forgotten about the time you cut our math teacher's brakes so we didn't have to do an exam?"

Lily looked innocent. "No, but you were the one who wanted an extra week to revise, and I merely found a way."

"How about the time you 'accidently' blew up the science labs?"

"It's not my fault if old Mr. Binns told us how to make an improvised explosive! I was just curious."

"And what about the time you let a fully-grown tiger loose in the gym?"

"Hey!" Lily objected. "I was fifteen then."

"How did you not get expelled?" Tony wondered aloud.

"My father and the headmaster were best buddies," Lily admitted. "Short of murdering a teacher, I could have got away with anything."

Not for the first time, Jenny wondered if a few firmer boundaries would have made her sister into something different. Not that she minded: as long as Lily was happy, she was happy.

"Can we get back on topic?" Gibbs interrupted. "I'd like to hunt Higgs down."

"Sure," Lily grinned. "So, we were sweet sixteen, or at least JL was sweet sixteen. There was this senior at our high school – Mick Higgs. Very hot, although not as hot as the guy I was dating."

Jenny pinched her sister for good measure.

"Anyway," she carried on. "Mick and JL started dating. I'm not entirely sure what she saw in him –"

"He was sweet," Jenny explained. "Something you never understood."

"He wrote poems and love letters – yuck!" Lily argued.

"How did you two break up?" Gibbs queried, interrupting again.

Jenny winced; he caught it.

"He was too sweet," Lily responded. "One night, when our father was working late, he came round the house."

"We were under orders not to let anyone in," Jenny added.

"So he stood outside our window with a guitar and sang these soppy love songs at 3 am," Lily continued without missing a beat. "It was horrific. I buried my head under my pillow while JL couldn't wipe the smile off her face –"

"I was sixteen!" Jenny felt the need to reiterate. "Everyone makes mistakes at sixteen."

Gibbs chuckled.

"Eventually I became very annoyed at this weirdo interrupting my beauty sleep," Lily smirked. "So I grabbed the first thing to hand, which happened to be my alarm clock, and threw it out the window."

"It hit his head," Jenny added. "Knocked him out cold."

Lily shrugged. "Not my fault. Dad came back the next morning and found out about it. By then, we'd termed it 'The Alarm Clock Incident'. It's why Jenny still owes me an alarm clock."

"I'm not getting you one," Jenny shot back. "You shouldn't have thrown it out the window."

"You should have told him to leave," Lily whined. "It was my favorite alarm clock as well."

"You smashed mine two days later so we both had to get new ones," Jenny pointed out. "So technically you owe me as well."

"That was an accident!" Lily claimed.

"You dropped it down the stairs!" Jenny retorted. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gibbs and his team edging out the door before this became any more serious. "Back in here," she ordered. "Where is he now?"

She examined each of them. Gibbs was trying and failing to hide his amusement at the story. This was exactly why she had never told him, and also why Lily had tried multiple times to blackmail her with it. It was embarrassing, but surely everyone had an embarrassing story or two in their past. She made a mental note to stop Lily form ringing up the ex-wives after Gibbs left the office, before turning to Ziva.

The Israeli looked slightly confused at the argument. Following accusation and counter-accusation between two warring parties had never been Ziva's strong point, mainly because she simply wanted to get stuck into action. In this case, the Israeli simply wanted to go after Higgs and not bother with any background. However, Jenny knew from experience that background could be extremely important. Misjudging someone could blow an entire operation, and they didn't need that to happen right now.

Tony had a grin of pure delight on his face. Jenny had a funny feeling that this story was going to find its way all over the Navy Yard within the next hour. Maybe Lily could do something about that? Regardless, Tony looked as though all his dreams had come true at once, and she half-expected him to start bouncing around the room.

McGee was the last in line, and looked as though he would rather be anywhere else than here. Jenny felt a wave of sympathy for him. It took someone very brave to stay in the room when she and her sister were really arguing, and fortunately things had stayed pretty calm this time. Nevertheless, he probably wanted to go back to his computer and deal with this situation in his own way.

"Where?" she repeated.

"He works in Forensic Science Research over at the FBI laboratory," Gibbs told her. "It's probably how he managed to cover his tracks so well."

"Why is he not in custody?" Lily inquired.

Gibbs looked very nervous all of a sudden. "He didn't show up for work this morning."

Lily let loose a string of swear words that made Jenny cover her ears. Her sister needed to vent, and it was normally easier not to hear it.

Finally, Lily stopped. "I'll start calling contacts," she decided.

Gibbs nodded before leaving the room, his faithful team following. "No leaving the building for either of you," he called back over his shoulder.

Jenny closed her eyes for a few moments. Mick Higgs. She hadn't heard that name in so long. He must have changed so much to be doing this.

Again, she felt afraid for her children. She could only hope that he wouldn't go after them. And Jethro…

"Twenty bucks says I can sneak out of here and bring you Mick Higgs' head before sunset," Lily offered.


	12. Higgs' House

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Last update for today! _

Chapter 12: Higgs' House

Gibbs stared at the house in front of him. It looked just like all the other houses on the street: detached, brick, two storey home with a great many windows, all of which had shutters thrown open. The garden was immaculate, and everything looked clean and tidy.

It struck him for a moment that Jenny would like this house. Somehow, it suited her. He wondered if it had been a deliberate move on Higgs' part. It also reminded him that Jenny was still sharing an apartment with her sister because she had not been house hunting. He decided to do something about it once this mess was over.

He had enjoyed the story Lily had told. It sounded like something Lily would do, and he wasn't surprised she had been blackmailing her sister with it for years. The two of them were constantly playfully arguing over something, and yet again he wished he had known them when they were teenagers. They would have been a complete handful for anyone to deal with.

And somehow, for better or worse, they had evolved into the people they were today: one the first female Director of an armed federal agency, the other one of the best CIA agents he had ever heard of or encountered. Both strong determined women in their similar fields, although Jenny now spent more of her time behind a desk and kissing politicians' asses than he would like.

You couldn't win them all.

Still, with her now being a mother – the mother of his children – he felt better with her being a little bit safer. Sure, her job seemed to be a magnet for nutters to crawl out of the woodwork, but she had a protection detail, when she didn't ditch them, and she was no longer chasing after armed criminals on a regular basis.

Although with Lily around, that wasn't a guarantee. She would happily suck Jenny into anything, even though she was slightly more protective than the protection detail.

Not that he would ever tell the CIA agent to her face.

He switched his mind into tactical mode, working out the best way to raid the house. If Higgs was inside, they wanted to catch him in one piece. Gibbs could only hope they would be so lucky as to find him this easily. Even if he was there, he would not come in quietly. The multiple windows would provide a straightforward escape route, and the house was also detached. It would not be as simple as a front and back door system.

Still, they should act as though it was. Gibbs mulled it over in his mind. If Tony and McGee went through the front door, he could go through the back door, and Ziva could wait outside to see if anyone went through a window. That should cover all the bases.

He relayed his instructions to his team, who all nodded in agreement. Crossing his fingers and hoping that Higgs was still inside, they began to make their move.

* * *

Much to Ziva's disappointment, the house was empty. Mick Higgs might have been warned or he might simply be stepping up his plans. Either way, this was not a good sign.

The only possible silver lining was if he had merely gone to do some shopping and they had raided at the wrong time. Unfortunately, if this was the case, he would run the moment he spotted them in the house. But they had no other option than to search it. Regardless, he would not be returning.

The house was tastefully furnished, and at first glance did not look like the home of a dangerous stalker. The kitchen was recently cleaned, with everything in its rightful place, the garage was squeaky clean, and even the bathroom was perfect. This man was a clean meek. Or was it geek?

Deciding to ask Jenny later, she resumed her search. She succeeded in finding something upstairs. "Gibbs," she called, knowing it would not take much effort to encourage her boss to appear. He was clearly very protective of Jenny at the moment, and she hoped this would get them back together again. Gibbs had been bordering on unbearable for the past few months.

She heard him come up behind her and knew when and why he froze.

She was standing in what probably used to be the study, but it was definitely not being used as one at the moment. The room was devoid of furniture, but the walls were covered floor to ceiling in photographs.

They all appeared to have been taken covertly; some at a distance, some disturbingly close. The same redhead was in most of them: Jenny. Some of them had an identical redhead in them, showing that the images were also of Lily. Somehow, he had been taking photographs for years, judging by the hairstyles, of both the sisters. Most of them were outside – either or both the redheads eating, walking, talking, laughing, cleaning a car, having a snowball fight.

A number of items were newspaper cuttings. Jenny at a ball, Jenny at a function, Jenny giving a presentation, Jenny holding a press conference, Jenny at a conference. A few of the redheads could possibly be Lily, especially knowing how often they liked to swap over. Even so, this was unnerving.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that some of the photographs were not of the sisters. Gibbs was in more than a few. Mainly he was pictured with Jenny, but the odd couple were of him alone. It took the Israeli a moment to work out what had happened.

"She distanced herself from you and he stopped following you," she whispered, aware that Gibbs could hear her and not wanting to break the eerie atmosphere in the room.

"The twins aren't in any of these pictures," he murmured.

Ziva double checked. "No, I do not see them either," she replied.

Gibbs sighed loudly. "At least they're safe. As long as he's unaware of their existence, we could pack them off to Great Aunt April's until Higgs is in custody."

"Pack them off? Like parcels?" Ziva was confused.

Gibbs did not bother to help her out as he swept from the room. Ziva shrugged. Another thing to ask Jenny later.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo glanced around the kitchen. This was boring. Higgs wasn't here, wasn't likely to return, and there was nothing else to do.

There was no evidence here either. Gibbs and Ziva had taken the first floor, leaving him and the Probie on the ground. This guy was more organized than Lt. Commander Faith Coleman, the obsessively tidy JAG lawyer. It was one more thing for Ducky to add to the profile he was building, one more nail in Higgs' coffin.

And it would be a coffin. Higgs had so many people who wanted him dead, it was going to be a fight to see who got to him first. Lily would have absolutely no qualms about torturing and killing him, Ziva would be right behind her, and even Abby seemed to be spending her spare time researching painful ways to kill someone without leaving forensic evidence.

Not to mention the boss. Gibbs was likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Higgs was responsible for driving a wedge between the boss and the boss' boss, and Gibbs would do anything to even the score a little. Tony began to worry about the boss' job. Would he do something to endanger his career? Would the boss even care if he ended up being fired?

Surely Jenny would not fire him. She had failed to file his retirement papers! That must count for something. And Lily could always blackmail someone into turning a blind eye. Blackmail, threaten, or something else that he really didn't want to know about.

Lily was very resourceful. If she could do not something herself, she knew someone who could or someone who knew someone. She could get hold of anything or anyone at short notice. She could turn the tables rapidly, as proved when she went along with the car bomb and pretended she was dead. Most people would have hung around for medical attention, but Lily had rolled with the punches.

He wondered if she would ever retire. She seemed to live for her work, in much the same way Jenny did. Retiring was probably an alien concept to her. She might even intend to die in the line of duty.

On the other hand, even Gibbs had retired. That should have been impossible. Tony would have been prepared to put money on Gibbs being more likely to kiss the Director in front of everyone rather than retire. People were always capable of surprises, especially a particular redheaded CIA agent…

He rubbed his wrists softly before hunting for the Probie. Poor McGoo had probably got himself lost in this strange world. Either that, or he had spotted a single speck of dust and was compulsively cleaning it.

He headed into the garage. There was always the chance the Probie had been stunned into place at the sight of such a nice car. Tony resisted the urge to snort. McGee wouldn't know a nice car if it bit him on the –

Something caught his eye. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was affixed to the underside of the car. Slowly, he bent down and had a look.

He didn't need to be an expert to recognize what it was.

"BOMB!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "EVERYONE OUT! BOMB!"

Short and concise, as well as getting across the urgency. He dashed back into the main part of the house, relieved to hear three different people running around as well. Everyone had heard him then. He charged outside to find McGee had beaten him, with Gibbs and Ziva hot on his heels. They all rapidly sheltered behind their own car.

Less than a second later, the house blew.


	13. Hair We Go

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! The bad news: I'm vanishing for a few days, so I will miss an update of this story on Wednesday. I am hoping to get Every Day Thoughts up, but my Internet access will be severely limited._

Chapter 13: Hair We Go

Timothy McGee let his gaze drift around Abby's lab. Upon their return to the Navy Yard, Gibbs had ordered him to help the Goth. He had not needed much encouragement. Even without the current case, Abby was snowed under with work.

She had set him to work on searching a Marine's computer. He would rather have been tracing Higgs' credit cards, but recognized Abby needed to get a few other jobs out of the way before she could even think of anything else.

He found himself wandering through the most badly-organized hard drive he had ever come across. It was a strange contrast to the neat house he had been in previously. Did no one today know how to get the best use out of a computer? Did they ever defrag their hard drive on a regular basis?

He stared blankly at the screen in front of him. This was going to take ages. Subdirectories and more subdirectories, and it looked as though nothing had been deleted since the computer had been first turned on. There was a mountain of useless files to sift through, with no guarantee the file he was looking for even existed.

"Abs?" he questioned.

Without looking up from her microscope, she answered him. "Anything that will help Agent Rawlings locate Gunnery Sergeant Philips."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and returned to his work. Philips was obviously not good with computers, and it was highly unlikely he had left a neon flashing sign saying 'This Way' on his hard drive.

Then again, someone this inept at using computers had probably left something obvious on it. Recently visited websites might help. McGee scrolled to the history and began to scan it. Porn, porn, more porn. This could be Tony's computer. Even more porn. Did this guy ever do any work? Gay porn. Almost certainly not Tony's computer then, unless Tony was hiding something incredibly well. Yet more porn.

At last he came across a link for a hotel. After checking that his credit card had been used there, he scribbled down the address and began to ring Agent Rawlings.

"If Agent Wofford picks up the phone, tell her she's dead," Abby growled, her eyes still glued to her microscope.

"Err, why?" McGee dared to ask.

"Because she stole my reference book for animal hair!" Abby exclaimed, finally looking up. "She's the only one who could have done it, and I'm going to boil her alive."

"_Hair of West European Mammals: Atlas and Identification_?" he checked.

"What do you know about that, Timmy?" She whirled to glare at him.

"Only that I've seen it on Ziva's desk," he whimpered.

"Oh."

McGee looked at her carefully. "Still planning to boil Agent Wofford alive?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to boil Ziva alive?"

"No, but only because she would probably kill me first," Abby argued.

McGee sighed. Agent Rawlings was not answering her phone. He decided to send her an email instead. "Should I warn Ziva to expect revenge?"

"Why should I be expecting revenge?" Ziva asked as she appeared. "What have I done?"

"You stole her book," McGee told her, as Abby tried to clamp her hand over his mouth.

"I am so sorry Abby, but I was here late one night and I found it absolutely fascinating," Ziva replied. "I especially liked the look of the mink hair."

"Really?" Abby perked up. "I think my favorite has to be beaver hair."

McGee hung his head in his hands. This was going to be a long conversation…

* * *

Ducky looked up from his paperwork as the doors to Autopsy swished open and a redhead stormed in. She looked furious, and he feared for his safety. What had Jethro said to Jennifer now?

"Director?" he called softly.

She whirled around. "Lily," she corrected, her whole body tense.

"Do you need to talk?" he inquired, staying calm. He couldn't think of anything he might have done which would result in her killing him in cold blood.

She took a few shaky steps, looking torn between wanting to kick the place to pieces, and wanting to spare him her wrath. "I just… I just…"

He stood up and guided her over to his chair. She pulled free at the last minute, choosing to hop onto the nearest Autopsy table instead. He settled back into his chair and observed her for a moment.

She had definitely been limping slightly when she had entered, which meant she was still injured. Her breathing was a little shallow, indicating that her ribs were still hurting. Her green eyes were darting everywhere, refusing to settle in any one place. Her hands shook a little, whether with rage, fear or pain, he did not know.

Without warning, she kicked off her impossibly high heels and lay on the table. Her eyes fluttered closed and she regulated her breathing. He allowed her to calm herself, while thinking.

What had happened to anger her so? That could be any number of things, from Jethro arguing with her, Jennifer shouting at her, her boss complaining about something, or something else that could have emerged from nowhere.

Why had she chosen to visit him? At least he was on more solid ground there. He was discrete, and would gladly listen to anyone's problems without judging them. Lily had a habit of hiding from her problems, allowing them to build up. All this did was lead to a moment when she would crack.

And she had cracked before. Last time she had murdered her father. Was she afraid of doing something as rash as that again? She had still not recovered fully from it, pushing all thoughts out of her head except how to help her sister.

Perhaps it was merely that she did not wish to lose control in front of the others. Lily thrived on being in control, yet here she was, uncharacteristically showing her feelings. She often showed amusement or anger, but this was red-hot _fury_. It was coming off her in waves, although it was now starting to fade.

It took her a good five minutes before she sat up and faced him again, crossing one leg over the other. He did not even have to prompt her.

"The CIA has had all the evidence from this stalker since he began several years ago," she began, her voice lined with vehemence. "NCIS has it for less than a week, and you lot manage to trace him."

"I can see how that would be annoying," he soothed.

"Annoying?! It's beyond annoying! These people are supposed to be the best in the world at their jobs! They're revered in their fields!"

"I take it Abby confirmed we are going after Higgs."

"Handwriting analysis proved it," she sighed, exhaustion creeping into her voice. "As if the bomb at his house didn't."

He leant over and patted her arm gently. "You will get him," he offered. "But you need to calm down or you will make a mistake."

She considered his advice for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You're right," she concurred. "Do you mind if I –"

"Feel free to catch forty winks," he smiled.

* * *

Gibbs longed for his boat. He had resorted to his usual conference room, all alone this time.

A short while ago, Tony had told him that Higgs' credit cards had yet to be used. But he didn't need to use them: he had withdrawn his life savings. The crazy stalker now had $200,000 to use in his pursuit of Jenny. And if he figured out Lily was still alive, things were going to get even more ugly.

He was worried for Jenny. Higgs had undoubtedly been obsessed with her for a long time, and would not simply give up and walk away now. Not when he was so close. He believed his path was clear; Gibbs himself had given up and Lily was dead. There was no one left to protect Jenny in his mind.

The man had already shown he would do anything for Jenny. Everything he did was to claim her as his own. Everything she did would be rationalized away in his twisted mind as proof of her love for him. It was a dangerous line to tread.

Lily would certainly be coming up with some madcap and irresponsible scheme for sorting this out. But whatever it was, it would have to be played out expertly, although there was no one as skilled as Lily in that regard. The game would be deadly; one wrong step would have fatal consequences. It was in this environment that Lily had always thrived. He could only hope she was doing so now.

His thoughts returned to Jenny. She had been worrying about this dirtbag for the last few months. Her fear had colored her every move, from shutting him out to her almost suicidal tendencies. Only Lily had been a shoulder to lean on. He wished she had opened up to him; he would have been there for her.

But he did not blame her. He could understand her reasoning: by shutting him out, she had been protecting him. Her desire to keep him safe had overridden everything else. Even Lily had finally realized that Jenny might be better off opening up, but Jenny did not always listen to her sister, for good reason.

And now they were dealing with this.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. When this was over, he was going to take Jenny on vacation. Somewhere nice and warm. Mexico sounded nice…


	14. Talking Heads

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! And I'm back! My Jibbsfest entry has been finished and I managed to plan out Wilderness of Mirrors today. Just got to write it now..._

Chapter 14: Talking Heads

Jenny let her eyes flick once again to her schedule. No one was going to be happy about this.

This had been arranged for months, and she had no intention of letting Higgs rule her life. It had been exactly that reason which had prevented her from telling her own security detail about her stalker – she wanted to live her life without being completely stifled by security.

She understood the need for security. She understood that she was a potential target all of the time. And yet sometimes she wanted to be left alone. She was normally alone when she was at Lily's apartment, barring the two CIA agents who were currently sitting outside at all times. And the Navy Yard was deemed safe enough for her security to not have to follow her around everywhere. But the rest of the time, she was accompanied. The option of popping out to do some impulse shopping no longer existed.

Unless she snuck away from her detail and snagged Lily on the way. Her sister would gladly keep her safe, and make her relax at the same time. However, Lily was not always around, and Gibbs hated shopping.

She ran her fingers lightly across her schedule. She was going, no matter what anyone said. Gibbs was going to make this as difficult as possible, and would need to be dealt with in some way.

Her door crashed open and she did not bother to look up. It could only be one person; Lily would have tried to sneak in.

"Hello Jethro," she greeted him.

He closed the door behind him and locked it. Again, she did not look up. "You called," he offered, clearly curious and a little anxious at the same time.

She raised her head and gazed into his deep blue eyes. "I have a speech to give at the Smithsonian tonight," she told him. "I'm going."

The look on his face told her that he had other ideas. She sincerely hoped they didn't involve handcuffing her to something to force her to remain on base. Although Lily would get her out in next to no time, it would still be aggravating.

Lily was the other possible snag. If she decided to become incredibly overprotective again, she could veto her plan and literally sit on her. Or drug her. Or handcuff the pair of them together. Nevertheless, she felt if she could persuade Jethro, Lily would go along with it.

"You need to remain in the Navy Yard for your own safety," Gibbs reminded her, refusing to take a seat so he could continue to tower over her.

"I will happily take a protective detail with me," she conceded, knowing she would never get out if she didn't agree to this point. "It has been arranged for months, and I do not intend to put my life on hold until you find him."

"He has $200,000 at his disposal," Gibbs pointed out. "He could do a lot of damage with that."

"Including sending a missile through my office window," she countered. "I am not prepared to shut my whole life down for him. If I do, he wins. You can have complete control of the security, and I'll take Lil with me. This is not negotiable."

He sighed, but seemed to acquiesce. Round One had been won. Hopefully, Lily would be won over fairly easily.

* * *

Lily smiled as she continued to gaze at Brett Langer. Oh, the things she could do with him if she wasn't engaged…

She loved Alex with all her heart. After her husband's death, she had been convinced that she could never love someone like she had him. Until Alex had entered her life and turned it on her head. She had not intended to fall in love with him, and had fought it all the way. Eventually, she had decided that Brian would want her to be happy.

Still, flirting was still allowed. Because of the nature of their jobs, they both accepted that the other might have to seduce someone else, whether to maintain their cover or gain valuable information. And neither of them really minded a little harmless flirting. It did not mean anything and it did not change anything between them.

Langer was busy fussing around the conference room, trying to fix her a cup of coffee. Gibbs had banished her from the squad room after she had managed to make his coffee glow. Although he had thrown it away, he had taken a few sips first, and she knew from experience that he would be peeing luminous green for the next week.

The CIA scientists were surprisingly eager to come up with interesting concoctions for her.

It helped that she was always willing to find someone to test them on. Arbourne was a good test subject. Darlene normally made the list. And it wasn't her fault if the Probies hadn't learnt yet to refuse any food or drink she offered them. She was only helping to prepare them for the real world.

She briefly wondered if Langer would be able to get hold of a woodchipper for her. She was determined to attempt to feed a Probie through one – she liked almost impossible challenges. They kept her on her toes, and reminded her that most things people claimed were impossible were merely very difficult. In her job, she often needed to do things no one expected, and practice made perfect.

Jenny had told her a short while ago about her speech at the Smithsonian. Lily had agreed to let her sister go, but was busy thinking up a few plans. The security detail would be next to useless, so she needed her own safety net. Part of her was tempted to send half the CIA over there on a false tip, and another part was tempted to call the Marines out. Or possibly the SEALs, in a rare attempt to please her boss, yet also to annoy LJ.

Langer moved over to her side and handed her a cup of steaming coffee. She smiled gratefully and took a long sip.

This man clearly didn't understand the meaning of a 'strong' coffee, but she decided to let that pass. Considering her injuries and the numerous painkillers she should be on, she probably shouldn't be anywhere never her favorite beverage in the first place. She found herself rubbing her knee again and forced herself to stop.

"Married?" she inquired, disregarding the lack of a ring. She didn't wear her ring on her finger, mainly because the lack of it allowed her to flirt with suspects.

"No," he smiled back at her. "I'm guessing you aren't."

"Very good," she praised, ignoring the fact she once had been. "Engaged? Seeing someone?"

"Again, no," he replied. "You?"

"Depends on your definition," she semi-lied. He would take it to mean she was seeing someone casually, while in reality she was engaged with a son.

He smiled back at her, raising his own mug to hers. "Pity. Are men just afraid to approach you or something?"

She laughed, something she needed. "I can be a little picky," she admitted. "You seem to tick most of my boxes though."

"How's that?" He looked amused and pleased.

"Handsome, charming, intelligent, carries a gun… I could go on?" she smirked.

He chuckled. "Which are the few I don't tick?"

She decided to tell him; it wouldn't harm anyone. "I like a little bit of danger," she confessed. "You seem just a tad too safe for my liking."

"An FBI agent isn't dangerous enough for you?" he checked.

"You might carry a gun, but I don't think you've ever been pushed beyond your limits. You'd play things by the book; I like to break every possible rule."

He considered her reply while she forced herself to drink more liquid caffeine. It was very possible this would be her last chance for a caffeine fix in a while, and she intended to make the most of it.

"Ever read the CIA handbook?" she asked, not waiting for a response. "I've broken 90% of the rules in there, and even more of the guidelines. I reckon I should have completed it by sometime next year."

"The rules can get in the way," he conceded.

She grinned. "Rules exist to be broken."

* * *

Ducky polished his glasses as he continued to try and convince Jethro of the problem.

"Higgs has been stalking Jennifer for years," he reiterated. "He believes his path is clear. He could very well make an attempt to get hold of Jennifer if she attends this speech tonight."

Jethro rubbed his brow, ignoring the rest of the squad room. "It's her choice," he insisted. "Her security detail will accompany her, I will accompany her, and my team will accompany her. There is no chance of him getting close to her."

"He is getting desperate," Ducky pointed out. "He could resort to drastic measures to get her, and a large amount of money gives him a lot of options."

"It will only take one bullet to stop him," Jethro concluded, ending the conversation. "Everyone is prepared to pull the trigger if he appears. There is nothing to worry about."


	15. Ideas and Plans

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! I've owed you this for a while now..._

Chapter 15: Ideas and Plans

Jenny did not glance up as her door opened unexpectedly. It could only be Lily. Jethro would barge in, and everyone else would knock or ask Cynthia.

Gibbs did not seem happy about her plan to continue with the speech, but she had made her mind up. Almost nothing could stop her from reversing a decision, although Lily could make a good job of it. Luckily, her sister seemed to have no problems with her plan.

For now.

There was always the chance that Gibbs would persuade her to change her mind. Or Gibbs could call Arbourne, tell him exactly what was going on, and demand that he put a stop to things. Arbourne would scream at Lily, which could either lead to her deliberately disobeying him or her accepting his orders.

She chose not to dwell on Arbourne. She had no control over him, and Lily was capable of double-crossing anyone. Instead, she reached into her desk and pulled out a fresh cup of coffee.

"Lifesaver," Lily grinned from across the desk. "Langer doesn't seem to understand the definition of a strong coffee."

"You shouldn't be flirting with him," she pointed out, debating whether she could leave her paperwork for now and get ready. She still had some time, but Lily would probably want to run over every possible scenario before Gibbs did the same.

"It doesn't mean anything," Lily groaned. "Is there any chance of me getting drugged up before you go?"

Jenny looked up and took in her sister's appearance. In the few hours since she had last seen her, Lily had turned very pale. She had seen bodies in Autopsy with healthier complexions. The few cuts and bruises that were visible contrasted severely with her ashen skin. Her left arm was folded protectively over her ribs, and seemed rather stiff. At a guess, her elbow had locked up and it was difficult and painful to move. She also seemed to be favoring her right leg.

Jenny's first urge was to call Ducky up, but she knew having her sister around would be crucial to anything that happened. Drugging Lily up was also out of the question. Her mind was more valuable than her body right now. There was no chance of her sitting this out, not when they had come so far. And even if she insisted on Lily remaining at the Navy Yard, her sister would find a way of coming.

She chose to stand up, take her sister's arm gently, and guide her over to the couch. Lily almost collapsed on it in exhaustion.

"Sleep," she ordered, taking on the role of protector for a moment.

"He's going to show up at the Smithsonian," Lily replied, her eyes fluttering closed. "I know it."

Jenny bit back a groan. This was not good. "Does Gibbs know?"

"He's letting you go, isn't he?"

"Yes," Jenny admitted. "But he's not happy about it."

"I think you should go," Lily decided, trying to roll onto her side without putting herself through any more pain. "I can come along too, and we can get him together."

Jenny sighed. "He'll know if we swap over."

"I wasn't planning on swapping over," Lily grinned. "I've got a much better idea."

* * *

Gibbs was officially worried.

In theory, Jenny was capable of taking care of herself. Especially with a crazy CIA agent watching her back. They both knew how to use a gun and had no qualms about shooting someone. Or blowing someone up in Lily's case.

But they were not working at their best. Lily had been injured, and seemed to be in more pain by the hour. Gibbs had a funny feeling that Great Aunt April had been drugging her up while she was harboring the redhead, and the meds were starting to wear off. There was no chance of giving Lily anything else; she needed to be alert.

Meanwhile, Jenny was being sidetracked by her sister's pain. It was understandable, given how close they were. And she had the crazy idea that she would be safe at this talk she still planned to give.

Higgs could sneak into the crowd. He could appear in the parking garage. He could plant another bomb under one of the cars. He could simply stand up and shoot Jenny at any point along the way.

And yet the stubborn redhead refused to see this. She was adamant that she would be attending. Even Lily agreed, which was strange. Lily was normally determined to keep her sister safe, but today she seemed happy to sacrifice her to the wolves.

Something was going on. The sisters were up to something. Whatever it was, he had no clue, but the fact they were willing to risk Jenny's life proved they had a plan. Knowing them, or rather knowing Lily, they would not tell a soul, thus complicating matters. It was very difficult to protect someone when you knew they were going to do something big behind your back.

He could only hope they would find a way to pull it off. Lily was injured, meaning they would have to work out something that would involve as little physical activity as possible. Jenny was juggling a lot at the same time, which meant they would have to give the mind game responsibilities to Lily. Usually, this would not be a problem, but ideally they needed a long break before they could work effectively.

Gibbs glanced around at his team. McGee looked nervous but unwavering. He was going to go in the car with Jenny, as added protection. Tony was taking everything as lightheartedly as ever, although Gibbs could see the slight anxiety in his senior field agent's eyes. Ziva was the only one who looked relaxed as she continued to sharpen her knives in preparation. She and Tony were going in the car ahead of Jenny's, while Gibbs himself planned to be behind her. Watching her six was the most important thing at the moment.

He knew Lily had disappeared into Jenny's office a short while ago, and did not intend to interrupt them. Whatever they planned, they would need time to work out the kinks – time which was rapidly running out.

Part of him thought he should go upstairs and help them brainstorm. However, he was aware that he would only distract both of them. Lily would want to harass him to take her mind away from her pain, while Jenny would try to prevent an all out war.

He sighed audibly, and rose from his chair. He needed coffee.

* * *

Abby rubbed her hands together, feeling very anxious. The music in her lab was still jazz, but she had turned it up to earsplitting levels in an attempt to soothe her.

She knew this was all going to end badly. It was the same bad feeling she had had when Kate was shot. Her stomach was churning and her head hurt. She was seriously tempted to barricade the Director in her office until this feeling went away.

Ducky had come to visit her, and had informed her about the talk the Director was insisting on attending. She assumed Jenny and Lily would swap roles to keep Jenny safe, but Higgs could tell them apart! Deep down, she wished they would keep that in mind. But it seemed as though they had forgotten, and she could not make herself move to remind them. Her feet were glued to the floor and her arms wanted to cuddle Bert.

She tried to rationalize everything, to calm herself down. Gibbs would be with Jenny, and he would rather take a bullet than let anything happen to her. The rest of the team would also be there, and they would look after her too. There was a good chance that Lily would insist on going as well, and she would undoubtedly have a few tricks up her sleeve.

So why was she so scared?

Ducky placed a warm hand on her shoulder. He too seemed worried, but nowhere near as much as she felt. He was aware of just how dangerous Higgs was, and exactly what he would be prepared to do in order to gain Jenny. He had already autopsied someone he had believed was Lily, and unquestionably did not want to autopsy one of the sisters for real this time.

"He's going to get her," she whimpered.

Ducky rubbed her back gently. "I'm sure the others will keep her safe," he offered. "They all care about her in their own ways, and Jethro would kill anyone who hurt her."

"I don't care," she whispered. "He's going to get her – I know it."

He did not reply, although he continued to try to soothe her. He reached over and passed Bert into her hands. She hugged him tight, ignoring the noise that emanated from him.

"We have to stop her," she suggested.

"No," Ducky countered. "Jennifer is allowed to make her own decisions. After all, she is the one who has to live with the consequences."

"I don't want her to live with the consequences," Abby murmured. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to come up with positive thoughts. She would be okay. She had to be okay.


	16. Dilemma

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Feeling good today after getting more writing done. Hopefully no one will kill me for this particualr ending..._

Chapter 16: Dilemma

Ziva David did not voice her displeasure as the cars continued towards their destination. It was not her place to complain, merely protect the Director.

She had not objected when Gibbs had told them about Jenny's speech. There was no need to. Jenny would understand the risks inherent in going ahead with this and ultimately it was her decision. Ziva and the team were coming along to keep her safe, and that is what they should all be worrying about. The Director's safety should be their number one priority.

Nevertheless, she was allowed to be unhappy with the plan. The speech could easily be postponed; Jenny's life was more important. Gibbs' gut was playing up, Abby and Ducky were both worried, and she felt something was off too. She could only hope that Lily and Jenny had used the time to come up with something extremely good.

Higgs was prepared; he had had years to plan how to get Jenny, everything down to the last detail. He was likely to have numerous contingency plans all laid out, have worked out exactly he would do in every possible situation. In contrast, they had had very little time to get ready, and were on unfamiliar soil. One of their party was injured – Lily – and the others were all nervous and unsure. If Higgs had anything planned, he would be feeling confident and powerful.

Which could be used against him. Being overconfident led to making mistakes. She could only hope that he would mess up seriously somewhere along the way.

She glanced over at her partner. Tony was subconsciously rubbing his wrists again, a sign she had come to associate with him thinking of Lily. Grinning slightly, she recalled finding out about Lily tying Tony to a bed and leaving him there. And it had been Gibbs' bed as well!

She giggled, which bought Tony out of his thoughts to stare at her as though she had gone insane.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing," she chuckled. Reminding him of the incident was likely to lead to him being distracted when they arrived at their destination, and she wanted him to be at the top of his game to shield Jenny.

He beamed, and she wanted to smack the smirk from his face. "Is Ms David thinking of something she shouldn't be?" he inquired. "New boyfriend perhaps?"

"Perhaps," she answered, enigmatically. "Why would you like to know?"

"Because partners should know everything about each other," he whispered, leaning into her personal space. "It helps them to keep an eye out for them."

"Garbage," she hissed back at him, resisting the urge to withdraw a knife. He was talking nonsense, as usual.

"You mean 'rubbish'," he corrected unnecessarily. "You really need to work on your idioms. I recommend watching some classic American movies to brush up on your skills."

"I hate movies," she pointed out. "And if you can understand what I mean, my English must be good regardless."

He poked his tongue out at her; she began to think up ways to remove it painfully. Perhaps Lily would help her to restrain him…

* * *

Tony focused as he stepped out of the car. Two more vehicles had pulled in behind them, with Jenny in the middle car. The Probie would be with her, while Gibbs and Lily were in the other one.

The underground garage was badly lit, which was never a good sign in his book. He let his hand drift towards his gun, feeling Ziva do the same behind him. The place was full of cars, as he had expected, but he really meant _packed_. There was not a space in sight, and the place was small enough as it was. There could be an army down here and they would not see anything until it was too late.

The columns were huge, towering up to the ceilings and obscuring a lot of the view. Someone or several people would easily be able to stand behind them, unseen. The bad lighting made everything even worse. He could only hope that they would manage to get Jenny inside very quickly, thus detaining her in this eerie place for as little time as possible.

And it was eerie. He had been in underground garages before, but there was something off about this one. The only sounds were from the NCIS crowd, with the occasional muffled noise of a car in the distance. It felt as though they were the only people left in the universe, but something big and bad was going to come out of the shadows and attack at any moment…

Pushing the morbid thoughts away, he turned his attention to the other cars. The end car emptied first; Gibbs almost dragged Lily out. The redhead was drained of color, her vivid hair contrasting greatly with her skin. She looked exhausted, in pain, and woozy. Tony's heart went out to her, and he admired her determination to protect her sister, even if she should probably be in a hospital and drugged up to the gills.

He grinned slightly. Lily on drugs. He would love to be around that.

At last, the car in the middle emptied. Everyone else had spread around, trying to provide the greatest cover possible. It clearly was not going to work very well given the surroundings, but everyone was doing their best. McGee stepped out of the car, followed quickly by Jenny.

The Director had dressed smartly for the occasion. She was wearing a red dress, very conservative and yet somehow looking amazing on her. She had a small necklace around her neck, but Tony was too far away to see it properly.

Across the garage, he could see Lily wearing exactly the same. It had always puzzled him that the sisters both unconsciously and consciously chose to wear the same clothes. Even though Lily would not be doing the speech, she was dressed identically. The only way to tell them apart was due to Lily's obvious pain.

For a brief moment, Tony allowed himself to entertain the fantasy of everything going well. Higgs had not shown up and they were all going to survive this. Until Higgs stepped out from behind a column, a gun to Jasper Thompson's head.

* * *

McGee felt his heart pounding in his chest. Damn. Just… damn.

Higgs had Jasper in a tight grip, a gun to the boy's head. For his part, Jasper was not trying to squirm or fight, merely hold still. Evidently he trusted his mother and his aunt to get him out of this in one piece.

If this were any other time, McGee would place money on it himself. But times had changed and everything was up in the air. Lily would have problems reaching for her gun, let alone shooting Higgs, and Jenny would be unarmed for her speech, trusting her agents to keep her safe.

Try as he might, he could not see a safe ending to this. He doubted even Abby, master of positive thinking, could come up with one. Short of Higgs dropping dead of a sudden heart attack.

Somehow, Jenny and Lily were remaining remarkably calm. Even Gibbs had allowed a small flicker of panic to cross his face, although he was currently pointing his gun at Higgs. Everyone else had rapidly followed suit, and a standoff had begun.

"You don't want to do this," Jenny soothed, staying still. Her eyes glanced across at her sister for a brief second. McGee allowed himself to do the same. Lily had moved slightly away from the group, but was unarmed. She appeared scared, but was holding herself together.

"I'll swap with him," Jenny offered, much to McGee's shock. Although he realized that he shouldn't be surprised. Her current desire was to save her nephew, no matter what the cost. She had recently walked into one hostage situation and come out unscathed; could she do the same twice?

"Why should I trust you?" Higgs growled. "She's still alive! I killed her for you!" He jerked his head towards Lily, who had taken a few more paces backwards. Now she stood apart from everyone else, back away from the action. McGee did not think she could even see Jasper any more.

"Because I love you," Jenny lied. At least McGee hoped she was lying. "I'll prove it to you." She turned to everyone. "Put the weapons away," she ordered.

McGee looked at Gibbs for guidance, who was busy trying to read Jenny's face. Finally, the boss put his weapon away and everyone else followed.

"Is that all?" Higgs asked, releasing his vice-like grip on Jasper but still hanging on to him.

Jenny smiled softly, a sad smile. "I told you I would prove it," she repeated. "Where do you want me to go?"

"Car," Higgs answered, his head jerking yet again in the correct direction. It was only a few steps away from Jenny's current position, but it would delay the team by precious seconds if she moved for it.

"Of course," Jenny agreed. She reached for a gun at her back and fired a single shot.

Lily collapsed to the floor, blood pouring out of her abdomen.

In the confusion, it took McGee a good five seconds to realize that Jenny and Higgs had gone, and so had the car.


	17. Panic Stations

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Virtual cookies to SJ for figuring out what happened at the end of the last chapter..._

Chapter 17: Panic Stations

"Mom!"

Lily winced at her son's frantic cry. Her body felt as though it was on fire, and once again she longed for painkillers. Forcing down the bile in her throat and the lightheadedness, she struggled to her feet.

Arms tried to push her down, to restrain her. Noises were getting fuzzy in her ears; she could not make them out. She couldn't open her mouth and tell them what she needed to. She began to tremble and found herself struggling to breathe. The world was spinning and her limbs were tingling. Hands she couldn't see were trying to force her to calm down, and she continued to fight them off as best she could.

"Lily!" roared a voice close to her ear. It took her a second to recognize it as LJ. "Lily!"

Still unable to open her mouth and articulate the problem, she reached into her top and flung out the fake blood pack. Several hands let go of her in shock, and she fell back to the cold concrete floor, hitting her head sharply.

Through the wave of pain, she decided that once this nightmare was over, she was going to hook herself up to morphine for a week. At least. Perhaps even two. The world continued to spin and she made the conscious decision to calm down. A bundle of something went crashing into her ribs; innately knowing it was her son, she hugged him close, ignoring the further pain.

It took her a good three minutes before she felt slightly more human again, and her physical pain came crashing down. She sat up, dragging Jasper with her, stifling the groan she was very tempted to let out. But she would not show weakness in front of LJ. It was bad enough that she had been in so much pain with him around anyway.

"You okay?" she heard his gruff voice ask.

"Panic attack," she managed to get out.

"Had 'em before?" he inquired, sounding friendly for once.

"Couple of times." She did not want to go into details – she hated them. They were a sign that she was not far from imminent collapse and she needed to rest immediately. But she could not afford to do so right now, not if Higgs had Jenny.

Dreaming of being given a huge pile of painkillers, she rose once again, placing Jasper as carefully as she could on the floor. He wanted to snuggle close, but there was no time. Higgs had done everything she had expected him to, and now she had a job to do. Jenny's job. She was already running late; her panic attack had cost precious minutes.

She turned her head slowly, to avoid jarring it any further. The garage was swarming in agents, and cops were starting to arrive. There were paramedics arriving too, and she realized with a jolt they were coming for her.

"Jasper," she hissed.

He looked up at her with his big green trusting eyes.

"Make-up bag, on the seat." She pointed towards the car, knowing she would not be able to make it in time and needing to preserve what little energy she had left.

He scampered towards it while LJ observed her in silence. She was fully aware of how bad she must look, and put it out of her mind. Jasper pressed the bag into her hand and she began the process of making herself appear more human. At least this would not be televised, and she would be a short distance away from her audience. Hopefully, they would not notice what a state she was in.

Finally, she handed the bag back to her son and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Call Alex to pick him up," she ordered LJ. There was no need for Jasper to stay in this creepy garage any longer. "Stay safe," she whispered to her son. "Love you."

"Love you too," Jasper whispered back.

She smiled softly at him, and forced herself to walk into the Smithsonian. She had a job to do.

* * *

Gibbs continued to fight down his panic. This was going from bad to worse. First Higgs had shown up, then Jasper had been in danger, Jenny had seemingly shot her sister before leaving with the aforementioned bad guy, and finally Lily had had a panic attack before leaving to give a speech while looking like death warmed up.

When this was over, he was going to drag Jenny on vacation, hook Lily up to enough drugs to knock her out for a long while, and find some way of stopping the Shepard sisters from being magnets for death, war, famine and pestilence.

Before he could do anything else though, he needed to locate Jenny and kill Higgs. Locating Jenny was going to be the main problem. Higgs was off the grid – he had no need for credit cards or his old house; he had everything he wanted with him. He clearly had a plan, judging from his boldness. He must have taken Jasper from his school in order to oblige Jenny to switch places. Everything pointed to Higgs having thought this out well.

So how was he supposed to find her?

During Lily's panic attack, McGee had put out a BOLO for the car. It was not the one registered to Higgs; that had been destroyed in the explosion. But they had all managed to see it briefly – a white Chevy pickup. Unfortunately, the angle had made it impossible to get the license plate. Nevertheless, it was a start.

Ziva had coordinated road blocks in a six block radius, which were currently being extended as it seemed clear that Higgs had managed to pass somehow. The Israeli was furiously pacing up and down, cursing herself for having lost Jenny. She was currently channeling all her energy into searching for Higgs, desperate to torture him.

Tony had initially stayed by Lily's side, worried by the fake blood and then the panic attack. Now, he was on the phone with Ducky, seeing if the medical examiner could come up with an idea of where Higgs would take her.

Gibbs had a few guesses. Somewhere quiet, out of the way, where he could keep her away from the world and possess her completely. Without access to Higgs' life history, he couldn't begin to work out where this would be, and could only hope that Ducky could get the information together for them.

They were running out of time.

And somewhere, Jenny needed his help.

* * *

Jenny allowed her mind to wander as Higgs drove. She vaguely recognized the route, but her mind was not working properly.

She had shot her sister. Admittedly Lily had been wearing a bulletproof vest, courtesy of the CIA techs, and there had been a lot of fake blood involved; regardless, she had pulled the trigger.

It had all been Lily's idea. She had correctly deduced that Higgs, having been obsessed with her for a long time, knew all of her weak spots – Gibbs, her sister, and her nephew. If he wanted to force her to go with him, he would need access to one of them. While the adults could easily take care of themselves, the obvious choice was Jasper. And as neither of them wanted to see Jasper get hurt, they needed to find a way to allow Higgs to believe he was winning.

Lily was supposed to be dead, and yet she wasn't. Killing her again would please Higgs temporarily, allow someone to give the speech, and trust Gibbs to find her. If he couldn't… Lily had a backup plan for that as well.

Backup plans seemed to be the only thing Lily ever really worked on. As she pointed out, you could guarantee that the main plan would fail spectacularly at some point, so you might as well be prepared. A good backup plan would strengthen the main plan, and it would also keep you alive. It was a win-win situation.

Jenny couldn't see this as much of a good situation though. Higgs had ordered her to remove her gun and any other weapons as they had got into the car, forcing her to deposit the gun on the concrete floor of the garage. She had something else, but almost no way of getting to it in a hurry. She certainly stood no chance if he turned the gun on her.

She could barely believe that she had once loved this man. She had never been in love with him, but she had definitely cared for him. Perhaps Lily had seen this darker side to him when they were younger. Indeed, her sister had disliked him on sight, which was very unusual when they felt the same way about virtually everything.

Including Jethro.

She smothered a smirk, aware that part of the reason Gibbs and Lily argued so much was due to an attraction between them, an attraction neither of them would ever act on due to their mutual love for her. They would never break her heart, so resorted to fighting over everything.

In a way, it was endearing. But she would never tell them, because it would mean Lily and Jethro acknowledging the elephant in the room. She and Lily were the same person with very few differences, making it hardly surprising that they both liked the same man and he liked them.

Oddly enough, she was not that attracted to Alex, Lily's fiancé. She supposed it had something to do with the situations they had been in together. And Lily tried her hardest to keep her away from Alex, wanting to prevent any possible problems.

As though a light was switched on in her mind, she suddenly realized where they were going.

Rock Creek Park.

She hoped someone would find her before it was too late.


	18. Tracking and Tracing

Chapter 18: Tracking and Tracing

Smiling through her pain, Lily walked out of the room. Her security detail, or rather Jenny's security detail, were very close behind her. They needed to go.

And she knew exactly how to do it.

The speech had gone fairly well in her opinion. No one had died, which justified it as a success. She had managed to get across all the points Jenny had wanted to articulate, and no one had seemed to notice her slight swaying or her faintly glassy eyes. She had received a standing ovation at the end, which she did not feel she deserved. After all, Jenny had written the speech.

And now it was time to find Jenny again. The speech was over, making the Director accounted for, and LJ and his merry band had had an hour to follow any possible leads. Of course, this meant that Higgs had an hour's head start, but she could work with that.

They had planned everything out nicely. Right down to the concealed weapon Jenny had in case of an emergency, and a tiny tracking device in her shoe.

Lily had no intention of trying to locate Higgs. It would require far too much effort, and would keep her away from painkillers for longer. The sooner she found Jenny, the sooner she could kill Higgs, and the sooner she could curl into a nice warm bed somewhere with enough morphine to kill a regiment. The pain med song crossed her mind before she quashed it. She could burst into song later.

She spotted the sign for a restroom up ahead and decided to make her move. Staggering slightly more than she really was, she aimed for the door. One of the Marines caught her arm gently and she winced, for real.

"I'll just be a minute," she groaned, allowing the pain to wash over her for a brief moment and turning paler than she had been in the last few hours.

Her security exchanged glances, before nodding. One of the Marines gave a perfunctory sweep of the restroom while the others remained outside with her. Lily made sure that her phone was still attached to her belt; it wouldn't do her any good if she escaped and had to return because she had no way of following the tracking device.

It was a good device; she had stolen it from the CIA lab a few months ago. Well, perhaps stolen was the wrong word – they were always willing to let her try anything out, but the device had not been officially cleared for use yet. It was supposed to have a range of five thousand miles and be practically impossible to destroy. Short of detonating a nuclear bomb on top of it, and she doubted Higgs would have access to that.

She did not mind a few health and safety niggles. It was not as though the device would suddenly grow fangs and bite Jenny's foot off after all.

Stepping away from the group, she entered the restroom and closed the door behind her. Just as she had expected, there was a wide window in there. The only reason someone had not stayed with her was because they were three storeys up, and anyone would be insane to attempt to use the window.

Wondering whether she would ever be able to use the insanity defense in court, Lily pulled the window up and looked down. She could climb down without a problem on a normal day. In desperate need of a hospital…

She gritted her teeth and climbed out. Time to find her sister.

* * *

"Got a hit, boss!"

Ziva David jerked her head up at McGee's cry. They were all still in the garage, waiting for the moment they could leave and rescue Jenny. It was taking longer than she hoped her, which in turn was making her anxious to kill someone.

Tony had come very close to having his liver removed via his belly button with a paperclip. She had been peering at a map of the DC area, trying to work out where Higgs would take Jenny. She doubted he would go far; he would want to be in an environment where he felt safe. From his file, he had grown up in the DC area and lived there for most of his life. He was somewhere close by, but where?

Her partner had decided it would be amusing to blow air in her ear while she tried to think. In response, she had pulled a knife on him, temporarily heartened by the flicker of fear in his eyes. But it had left rapidly, and she was continuing to worry for her friend. They would find her. They had to find her.

And now McGee had something. She hoped against hope that the BOLO had worked. Unfortunately, there seemed to be millions of white Chevy pickups in the tristate area, and it did not help that they did not have a license plate.

She moved over to the others. Everyone was gathering around Gibbs, trusting him in their time of need. She wondered how he was coping with the situation. He and Jenny had seemed to be getting on again, and now she had been snatched away from him.

"Abby searched for stolen white Chevy pickups and modified the BOLO," McGee explained, as quickly as he could without skipping the important bits. "She narrowed it down to one. It was stolen half a block from Higgs' house about an hour before we raided it. A Metro cop spotted it driving into Rock Creek Park less than fifteen minutes ago."

Ziva nodded, her mind made up. She knew where they had to go now, and what she would do.

Gibbs seemed to agree with her. "Let's go," he ordered.

* * *

Jenny cursed her high heels as she made her way across the park.

She and Lily both loved their heels. It had something to do with their natural height and their desire to tower over everything possible. Walking in them could be difficult at times, but she could put up with it.

Much as she longed to take them off and throw them away, she was very aware that in doing so she would remove any chance of Lily finding her. The tracking device was in her shoe, one of the last places Higgs would ever look, and she needed it as close to her as possible. It would do no good if Lily came to the rescue a good five hundred meters out.

She was following her captor across the grass, past trees and roots. They were going at a fast pace; she wanted to ask him to slow down, but decided that the gun in his hand gave him the advantage. Although she could try seducing him…

Ruthlessly, she squashed her Lily side. There would be no seduction; she would not do that to Jethro. All she had to do was stall for time and let her sister catch them up. Perhaps she could flirt, just a little. And smiling would be permitted. If only he would slow down for a minute.

She got her wish as he came to a halt in a clearing. It was beautiful, she had to confess. She could see all the way down to the creek itself, and there were stunning flowers everywhere. Right in the middle of the clearing, a picnic had been laid out. The food was all stored carefully away, and she suddenly realized just how hungry she was. She had not been eating properly since this whole nightmare began.

He gestured for her to sit down and she obeyed without question. Her mind slowly caught up with events, and she recognized where she was. They had come here for a picnic before, back when they were shy teenagers.

She wished Lily remembered this place. It would make things a lot easier.

Walter Reed was not too far away, but she would not be able to make it. Even if she ditched the heels, Higgs would shoot her in the back. Or would he? He claimed to love her; would he kill her if she tried to escape? Lily had suggested no sudden moves regardless, and Jenny was starting to agree.

"Do you remember this place?" Higgs asked, breaking the silence that had built up between them.

"I do," she answered. She would prefer to ignore him, but stalling for time usually involved some form of communication. Still, she did not have to give him too much.

"I remember it was a bright sunny day," Higgs smiled. "Your hair looked like a halo, a shimmering ball of fire atop your head."

Oh, he was definitely crazy. If she had her gun on her, she would have put a bullet in his head to end his mad memories.

"You were laughing and smiling," he reminisced. "You were carefree then, nothing to worry about."

Occasionally, she still longed for the days when she was younger and nothing mattered. And then she reached for the next file on her desk.

"Look at you now," he continued. "Drowning in work, tried, stressed, lonely."

She wanted to dismiss the last remark, but knew he was right. The last few months had been extremely lonely without Jethro by her side. Even so, her job made it difficult to maintain friends and have evenings out without dragging a security detail along with her.

"I love you," he whispered. "But we can never be together. _They _will stop us."

Jenny decided to speak up. She didn't like where this was heading. "I can leave it all behind," she lied. "It'll be just you and me, together forever."

He smiled sadly. "I wish it were so."

She felt a wave of panic grow inside her. Where was Lily when you needed her?!

"We will be together forever in paradise," he soothed. "We can share our last meal here, before the wine sends us to sleep. No one can separate us then."


	19. The Race

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Sorry it's slightly late tonight, but I have been finished May's Every Day Thoughts. So busy at the moment... And the first line of Jenny's part came from a card that taunted me every day I worked over the summer. I had to buy it in the end, and I couldn't resist the line._

Chapter 19: The Race

Lily pushed the pedal to the floor and continued to break the speed limit.

The joys of stealing a car when on the way to an emergency! Someone else would get the speeding tickets, and even if she was spotted, police cars would follow her right up to the scene of the crime, when she could use them for backup.

She wished she had taken a better car though. She had chosen it because of the color; out of all her options in the underground garage, one which matched her hair shade had caught her attention. Unfortunately it did not seem to want to go over a hundred miles an hour. Stealing another car now would take too much time.

She flicked the radio on in an attempt to distract herself from the burning fire across her chest. Her second fall in the garage earlier had probably damaged her already sore ribs, not to mention the blow to her head. The world was spinning slightly, but she could not afford to go to a hospital now. Not with so much at stake.

Even across the distance, she could feel her sister's fear. Something was going on, and right now she was the backup. She needed to get there as soon as possible, not stop by an ER and steal a handful of painkillers.

A girl could dream though.

The music aggravated her head more than she thought possible, so she switched it off. Great. To top everything off, she almost certainly had a mild concussion. The pain meds song crossed her mind again, and it took her a moment to recall the tune. _I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas_ was not usually something she sung outside of the festive season, but the tune was used for another song of hers that she found herself singing with alarming regularity.

_I'm dreaming of some nice pain meds  
__Just like the ones I used to know.  
__With a handsome doctor  
__A bed to opt for  
__A soft pillow for my head to go._

She hummed another verse as she cut across several lanes of traffic at high speed. She had come up with the song while stuck in a tiny apartment in Cairo, unable to leave and with no pain relief available. There hadn't even been a bed for her to lie in, not after an unfortunate incident with an armed gunman, which had only been resolved by her murdering him and having to dispose of the bed at the same time.

Some days she hated her job. But most of the time she loved it, reveled in it, craved it. Only when she was in serious pain did she want to jack it all in. The minute she had painkillers, the doctors would struggle to keep her from returning straight to work though.

She shifted slightly in her seat, somehow managing to make her little car go a bit faster. Somewhere, up ahead, was Jenny. She was almost there…

* * *

Timothy McGee bit down his cry of terror as Ziva took yet another corner on two wheels.

He understood why Gibbs had let Ziva take the wheel – they would get there that little bit faster. Even so, he wanted to get there in one piece, not be cut out of the wreckage. And the way Ziva was driving made it likely he would die in this car.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced over at Tony, who was also in the back seat. Tony was green, and clearly wanted to get out and walk. It was a small comfort that Tony disliked this more than he did. Nevertheless, neither of them would be much use at the other end if they were puking their guts up.

Gibbs, sitting in the passenger seat, did not seem to mind the speed, or even notice it. He looked lost in his own thoughts, probably worrying about the Director and hoping they arrived in time. If something happened to the Director, Gibbs would go on the warpath.

McGee surreptitiously crossed his fingers. He liked the Director and he wanted her to be okay. At the same time, he was acutely aware of just how much danger she had managed to get herself into. If she had not seemingly shot Lily, they could have dealt with Higgs in the garage. He wasn't sure how they would have dealt with their opponent, but Gibbs would have come up with something. Gibbs always came up with something.

The car squealed around another corner and he held his breath until all four wheels were back on the ground again. He was never going to get in a car with Ziva again, he decided. Even if his car had broken down miles from civilization and there was no cell phone coverage, he would rather crawl for help than let Ziva drive him anywhere.

Where had she learnt to drive, anyway? Was she even licensed to be on these roads? He let his mind wander as the car continued to race forwards, edging closer and closer to their destination. They were almost there…

* * *

Tony DiNozzo forced himself to take deep breaths. He truly hated being driven anywhere by Ziva, and the boss had clearly not yet learnt what an appalling driver she was.

Although if travelling at this speed saved Jenny's life, he could accept it.

He had never felt so nervous in his life. What would they do without Jenny? Who would Gibbs argue and flirt with, who would Ziva confide in, who would have some control over Lily? What would Lily do if they were too late? They already knew that the redhead had managed to slip her detail after giving her speech, and was very likely going after Higgs herself now. Had she already made it?

Part of him hoped that Lily could reach Higgs before they did. It wasn't out of concern for Jenny; more that he didn't want to see Ziva torture someone in front of him, even if Higgs thoroughly deserved it. And yet he also wanted Ziva and Gibbs to have their revenge. He wanted them to release all their pent up frustration and make Higgs pay.

They were almost there…

* * *

Jennifer didn't know what was worse: the fact that he was dead or that he'd left the corkscrew at home.

She wasn't entirely sure when the situation had spiraled out of control. She had started eating some of the food, more out of nerves than anything else. Counting down the minutes in her head, she had come to the realization that her backup was being slower than she would like.

She had thought of her sister, of what might be delaying her. Was she in the hospital, finally drugged up? Had she crashed whichever car she had stolen on her way to provide help? Either way, she could no longer rely on Lily's assistance. If she sat around and continued to eat, she would never make it out alive.

The wine bottle had sat temptingly across from her. The urge to allow him to pour her a glass and sink into oblivion was strangely compelling. But she remembered Camilla and Rose, both depending on her return from this. She did not want them growing up without a mother; Lily would happily take them under her wing if anything happened to her, but Lily was not the best role model in the world. And she and Jethro would constantly argue over the two of them.

She did not want to bring any more pain into Jethro's life either, nor Lily's. Her urge to survive had come back into play, and she had begun to weigh up the situation.

Even as he ate, Higgs had kept his gun carefully trained on her. He had watched her every movement like a hawk, afraid she would try to leave. Which she did want to do, in a way, although she would prefer for at least some part of her backup to show up. They were all going to be yelled at when they finally appeared.

Her only option had appeared to be getting closer to him. She had a knife concealed at her back, unbeknownst to him, and she also knew how to use it. Being partnered with Ziva had taught her a lot of useful things. Not to mention a sister who was ever so slightly obsessed with causing destruction on whatever scale was possible.

She had caught sight of some chocolate biscuits that were right in front of him, and decided to take her chance. Leaning over carefully, she slipped the knife out from behind her and angled it precisely. One sharp thrust later, he was dead.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that this was over at last. And she had killed him as well. It was a pity that he had not died in more pain, to make up for all the pain he had put her through, but she was willing to put up with it for the sake of her own life.

Her hands had started to tremble, in joy. She wanted to laugh out loud, scare away all the creatures that were nearby. But her rational side kicked in and reminded her that she was still the Director of an armed federal agency. She could always have a good laugh with Lily about this later.

Once again, her eyes were drawn to the bottle of wine that was waiting patiently by Higgs' side. His dead body was slumped away from it, and she realized that she wanted some form of alcohol to make her feel better. Even if she could not drink it, she could always smell it. She searched for the corkscrew for a few moments before coming up short.

Her tormentor, who had planned everything down to the last detail, had forgotten the corkscrew.


	20. All's Well That Ends Well

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! And I'm glad I can keep some of you on your toes. There is an epilogue to come after this..._

Chapter 20: All's Well that Ends Well

Lily flung her car into the first space she could find, and jumped out, leaving the keys in the ignition. Someone could steal her car for all she cared. It no longer mattered.

Getting to Jenny mattered.

She had been held up by a multi-car pileup a few blocks away. It had forced her to take every back street possible, going far out of her way. Naturally, the world and his brother had been taking those particular tiny roads as well, slowing her down to the point where she had been about to get out and run.

She was never patient at the best of times, and this was certainly not one of those times. Somehow, she knew Jenny was okay, but she was also impatient as well. When the two of them were impatient, things tended to go wrong. Or right, depending on whether she considered ambushing a certain ex-marine as he made a coffee run and interrogating him. There was also a tinge of relief in Jenny, which was powering Lily onwards.

Looking around for a moment to get her bearings, she realized that she had been here before. Normally, this would not bother her as she had been all over DC, but there was something different about this. Wishing that her pain would deaden for a few seconds so she could think, she forced her brain to make sense of the images.

It was when Jenny was dating Higgs all those years ago. She recalled following them out to a spot in Rock Creek Park, and spying on their little picnic. They had held hands and been shy and endearing at the same time. The spot had been beautiful, and she had taken a few of her then-boyfriends out to it at later dates.

It gave her a pretty damn good idea of where she had to go. It was an obvious choice and she really should have come up with it sooner. Now prepared to give an arm for painkillers, she sought out the path and started up it.

After a few minutes stumbling along, she slipped off her heels and tucked them under her arm. It would do her no good if she broke her ankle when she had come so far. She slipped slightly off the trail to give her a chance of sneaking up. The place was off the trail anyway, but walking along it made her more of a target. Higgs could always have rigged a few bombs to keep people away.

As she continued to get closer, she wondered if it was worth calling in a SEAL team. It would please Arbourne, and she could do with the help. She wasn't much backup – in serious pain, clearly wounded, and on her own. She wished she had thought of it sooner; at the very least, she could have called someone from the CIA to watch her back.

The clearing loomed ahead of her, and she cautiously crept closer, careful to make no sounds at all. Recalling the layout again, she decided it would be safer for everyone involved if she climbed up a tree and took in the situation. One thing she had learnt a long time ago was that people always forgot to look up.

She eyed the tree warily. On a normal day, she could shimmy up it without a problem. But she needed a hospital bed, not to be performing gymnastic feats. Closing her eyes briefly and gritting her teeth, she forced herself to climb. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, probably due to all the adrenaline that was starting to course through her veins. She lived for this part of her job – anything that placed her in harm's way was good for her. When she reached the position she knew was right, she shifted slightly and looked down.

The first thing her eyes settled on was the picnic laid out neatly. Half of it had been eaten, while the other half was untouched. Her eyes traveled upwards to reveal a sprawled out body – definitely Higgs. There was a bloody stain on his front, suggesting that Jenny had used the hidden knife. Lily felt proud of her sister for a brief moment, before realizing that she had yet to see her other half.

Her eyes moved downwards, to a spot almost directly below her. There, lying as still as death itself, was a familiar redhead.

Ignoring her aching body, Lily allowed herself to fall out of the tree. It was quicker than climbing down, and she needed to be by her sister's side as fast as was humanly possible. If she happened to break a few limbs in the process, she could live with that.

Unless Jenny was dead, in which case she would be looking for the nearest cliff to throw herself over.

She shook the body on the ground, and her sister blearily opened her eyes.

"Five more minutes," she complained.

Lily resisted the urge to do a happy dance. She needed to check that her sister was not injured in any way, shape or form first. "I'll tell LJ why you owe me an alarm clock if you don't get up," she warned.

"You've already told him that," Jenny whispered, on the verge of falling back asleep again.

"I'll tell him about that time we spent a week in New York City," she bargained, trying to think on her feet for something highly embarrassing.

Jenny opened her eyes fully and glared at her sister. "You wouldn't dare."

"I so would."

"Would not."

"Would too."

"Would not."

"Would too."

"Would not."

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled her cell phone out. This argument was going nowhere fast and they both knew it. She dialed a number from memory and waited for someone to pick up.

"What?!" came a furious yell from LJ.

"Good evening to you too," she grinned back, knowing he could not see her. "It's getting a little dark out here now, and I could do with some transportation back to civilization. A few hundred painkillers wouldn't go amiss either."

* * *

Gibbs resisted the urge to grab Jenny and never let go as he walked into the clearing, his team right behind him.

Lily had been her usual infuriating self on the phone, but she had at least passed it over to Jenny, who had provided directions to their current location. And they had been good directions as well. As they had started up the trail, he had heard Lily mention something about possible traps on the way, and they had slowed right down. It was getting very dark very quickly, and he did not want to lose one of his agents to a basic trap in the middle of the trail.

It had been a good idea; they had come across three distinct traps. He and Ziva had taken their time to disarm them, knowing better than to leave them behind for someone else to stumble into. There was no real reason to rush – Jenny and Lily were both safe, if a little cold and tired. Jenny seemed to be spending most of her time trying to persuade her sister to get a little rest, but Lily, as ever, was refusing to cooperate. He suspected she would be a bear with a sore head until she was pumped up with painkillers at the nearest ER.

Jenny had mentioned Higgs was dead, but he could not hide his relief as he took in the dead body on the ground.

The two sisters were sitting at the other end of the clearing. One of them, probably Jenny, had tugged some of the picnic over towards them. From the remains, it looked as though they had gotten hungry while waiting. Lily was curled up on the ground, her head resting on Jenny's legs. As he approached, he could hear a faint whimpering coming from her. For once in his life, he did not want to smack her into next week.

Jenny looked up at him, not bothering to get up. "She sprained her ankle as she fell out of the tree," she explained quietly. "Please tell me you bought pain meds."

He shook his head softly. His only concern had been getting to her side, happy that she was in one piece. Now he wished he had taken the few extra minutes and grabbed something for the bane of his life. Not necessarily because it would be something to throw back in her face during their next fight either.

Holding out his hand, he tugged Lily up first after receiving a glare from Jenny. The redhead was now running a fever, and looked more in need of Ducky's autopsy services than a hospital bed. Allowing her to lean heavily on one arm, he tugged Jenny up and enveloped her in a hug. She snuggled closer, and he closed his eyes, reveling in being so close to her.

They were bought back to earth as Lily almost collapsed. Gibbs grabbed her quickly, somehow managing to keep her upright, and Jenny caught her other side. A hiss of pain left Lily's lips, but she did not protest. He thought about calling her on the slight twinkle of mischief in her eyes, fairly sure that she had timed her collapse because she felt she was not being paid enough attention.

Looking round at his team, and satisfied that they were able to process the scene, he pulled both sisters back towards the trail. He wanted them to both be checked out by doctors, and amused himself at the thought of who would protest more. Lily would beg for painkillers before trying to leave, while Jenny would argue that she was fine.

"Boss!" DiNozzo yelled behind him.

"Handle it," he commanded, not turning around. He had more important things to attend to.


	21. Epilogue

_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Just a little bit of fluff to end this. Another story coming soon - To Kill A Man._

Chapter 21: Epilogue

Tony DiNozzo wondered exactly how much time they had spent in the hospital in the last month.

First there had been that hostage crisis, and Gibbs had needed emergency surgery. Then they had all been trapped in a flooding cave, necessitating another trip. Now he was stuck in the ER, listening to a commotion further down the hall.

Someone had given Lily painkillers. It was long overdue. And she had taken that to mean that she could waltz out the door and go straight back to work. The doctors sounded as though they wanted to admit her, Gibbs had managed to join in the shouting for her to stay 'or else', and even Jenny was yelling. Tony was extremely thankful that he was sitting in the ER with Ziva and McGee. At least they were safe.

He wasn't sure who would kill Lily first; he could only hope someone would think to sedate her. Otherwise there would be blood on the floor.

He felt the presence of someone else, and turned to see Arbourne approaching, looking furious. Instinctively, he wanted to hide under a chair, and he could see Ziva and McGee shifting slightly to be less of a target as the older man walked past. The yelling got louder until Lily stormed through the doors up ahead, rapidly followed by what looked like half the hospital.

Lily's boss slowed down enough to catch her arm, and immediately dragged her back through the doors. The whole room could hear what he was yelling at her.

"How dare you fake your death without my permission! I do not care how much pain you are in; you will take some pain meds, suck it up, and explain yourself to your Director as soon as I can drag you there! I have never, in all my life, been so humiliated to learn that an agent of mine has been so reckless! As soon as you are cleared for work again, you will be on Archives duty for the next month! If I hear one complaint, one muttered objection to this, I will hand you over to the Director and I can guarantee he's found some incredibly boring missions for you to oversee!"

Tony felt very glad he was not in Lily's shoes at that moment. She hated Archives duty with a passion, and this would be torture for her. At least until she found something to blackmail her way out of it again.

He risked a grin as Gibbs and Jenny came over. The boss had been very insistent on his boss being checked out, which meant he might win some money out of this. After all, a happy Gibbs was easier to work with.

* * *

Ziva David sat at her desk, happy to have finished her report.

It had been a few days since Jenny had killed Higgs, and the inevitable paperwork had needed to be dealt with. Naturally, McGee had completed his first, and now she had finished too. Tony was still struggling to focus on it, while it was impossible to know whether Gibbs had finished or not.

Much to her amusement, Gibbs and Jenny had been spending more time together. She had been bringing him coffee every few hours, and they had both been leaving at a reasonable hour for once. They were actually talking to each other again, something everyone was glad for. Abby had resorted to calling them Mommy and Daddy in front of them, and they had merely shared a grin.

Ziva was happy for them. They were perfect for each other, and although they still had a few kinks to work out, she had faith that they would patch everything back up.

Or was it 'batch'?

Abby whirled into the squad room, her infectious enthusiasm warming Ziva's heart. The Goth stopped by McGee's desk first, dropping something small on top of it, before bouncing over the Tony's desk. Without saying a word, Ziva rose and went over, while McGee copied. They gathered around, all co-conspirators.

"So?" Tony asked.

"They took separate cars last night, but they definitely ended up together," Abby confirmed.

"Where?" Tony checked.

"Probably Lily's place," Abby answered.

"Probably?" Ziva joined in.

"Well, we can't just ring her up and ask for her address, can we?" Abby objected. "She'll say something about national security and hang up."

McGee nudged them, and everyone followed his line of sight. Gibbs and Jenny had just emerged on the catwalk, standing just that little bit too close. Oblivious to their audience, they shared a gentle kiss.

Tony held out his hand. "Pay up," he ordered.

THE END


End file.
